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CODE

The CODE formula returns the numeric Unicode value of the first character in a text string. This can be useful when working with non-English characters or when attempting to identify certain characters in a text string.

Usage

Use the CODE formula with the syntax shown below, it has 1 required parameter:

=CODE(string)
Parameters:
  1. string (required):
    The text string for which to return the Unicode value of the first character.

Examples

Here are a few example use cases that explain how to use the CODE formula in Google Sheets.

Finding the Unicode value of a character

You can use the CODE formula to find the Unicode value of any character in a text string. For example, you could use this to determine the Unicode value of a specific letter or symbol in a range of cells.

Working with non-English characters

Because the CODE formula returns the Unicode value of a character, it can be helpful when working with non-English characters that may not be recognized by other formulas or functions.

Identifying certain characters in a string

The CODE formula can also be used to identify certain characters in a text string. For example, you could use this formula to find all instances of a specific character in a larger block of text.

Common Mistakes

CODE not working? Here are some common mistakes people make when using the CODE Google Sheets Formula:

Providing a cell reference instead of a text string

One common mistake is to provide a cell reference as the argument for the CODE formula, instead of a text string. Make sure to enclose the text string in quotation marks to avoid this error.

Providing a string with more than one character

The CODE formula only returns the code for the first character in a text string. If you provide a string with more than one character, the formula will only return the code for the first character.

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to CODE or are often used with it in a formula:

  • CHAR

    The CHAR formula returns the character corresponding to the ASCII code provided. This formula is commonly used to convert a numerical value to its corresponding character in a Google Sheets cell.

  • UNICHAR

    The UNICHAR function returns the Unicode character represented by the given numeric value. This is useful when working with non-Latin characters or symbols that cannot be easily typed on a keyboard. The function takes a single parameter, a number representing the Unicode value of the character to be returned.

  • FIND

    The FIND formula in Google Sheets searches for a specific text within another text and returns the position of the first occurrence of the text. This formula is often used to extract a substring from a larger string or to check if a certain text exists within another text.

  • SEARCH

    The SEARCH formula is used to find the position of a piece of text within a larger string of text. It returns the position of the first character of the searched text in the text being searched. This formula is case-insensitive, meaning it will find all instances of the searched text regardless of capitalization.

Learn More

You can learn more about the CODE Google Sheets function on Google Support.