This post will guide you how to remove the first and the last word from a text string in cells using a formula or User defined function with VBA code in Excel 2013/2016/2019/365. How do I use a formula to remove first and last word of a text string in Excel.

1. Remove the First Word from Text String using Formula

If you want to remove the first word from a text string in cells in Excel, you can use a formula based on the RIGHT function, the LEN function and the FIND function. Like this:

=RIGHT(B1,LEN(B1)-FIND(" ",B1))

Type this formula into a blank cell and press Enter key on your keyboard and then drag the AutoFill Handle down to other cells to apply this formula.

2. Remove the Last Word from Text String using Formula

If you want to remove the last word from a text string, you can use a formula based on the LEFT function, the TRIM function, the FIND function, and the SUBSTITUTE function. Like this:

=LEFT(TRIM(B1),FIND("~",SUBSTITUTE(B1," ","~",LEN(TRIM(B1))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(B1)," ",""))))-1)

Type this formula into a blank cell and press Enter key on your keyboard and then drag the AutoFill Handle down to other cells to apply this formula.

3. Remove the First Word from Text String using User Defined Function with VBA Code

You can create a User Defined Function in VBA to remove the first word from a text string in Excel by following these steps:

Step1: Open the Visual Basic Editor (VBE) by pressing Alt+F11.

Step2: In the VBE, click on Insert -> Module to create a new module.

Step3: In the module, enter the following code:

Function RemoveFirstWord_ExcelHow(ByVal inputString As String) As String
    Dim firstSpaceIndex As Integer
    firstSpaceIndex = InStr(1, inputString, " ")
    If firstSpaceIndex > 0 Then
        RemoveFirstWord_ExcelHow = Mid(inputString, firstSpaceIndex + 1, Len(inputString))
    Else
        RemoveFirstWord_ExcelHow = ""
    End If
 
End Function

Step4: Save the module and return to the Excel workbook.

Step5: In a blank cell, enter the following formula:

=RemoveFirstWord(B1)

Where B1 is the cell that contains the text string you want to remove the first word from.

Step6: Press Enter to display the result.

4. Remove the Last Word from Text String using User Defined Function with VBA Code

If you also want to remove the last word from a text string in excel using a User Defined Function with VBA code, and you can refer to the above steps, and just using the following code:

Function RemoveLastWord_ExcelHow(ByVal inputString As String) As String
    Dim lastSpaceIndex As Integer
    lastSpaceIndex = InStrRev(inputString, " ")
    If lastSpaceIndex > 0 Then
        RemoveLastWord_ExcelHow = Left(inputString, lastSpaceIndex - 1)
    Else
        RemoveLastWord_ExcelHow = ""
    End If
End Function

In Cell E1, type the following formula, press Enter key to apply it:

=RemoveLastWord_ExcelHow(B1)

5. Video: Remove the First/Last Word from Text string in Cell

This video will demonstrate how to remove the first/last word from a text string using a formula and VBA code.

6. Related Functions

• Excel LEFT function
  The Excel LEFT function returns a substring (a specified number of the characters) from a text string, starting from the leftmost character.The LEFT function is a build-in function in Microsoft Excel and it is categorized as a Text Function.The syntax of the LEFT function is as below:= LEFT(text,[num_chars])…t)…
• Excel FIND function
  The Excel FIND function returns the position of the first text string (sub string) within another text string.The syntax of the FIND function is as below:= FIND(find_text, within_text,[start_num])…
• Excel RIGHT function
  The Excel RIGHT function returns a substring (a specified number of the characters) from a text string, starting from the rightmost character.The syntax of the RIGHT function is as below:= RIGHT (text,[num_chars])…
• Excel Substitute function
  The Excel SUBSTITUTE function replaces a new text string for an old text string in a text string.The syntax of the SUBSTITUTE function is as below:= SUBSTITUTE  (text, old_text, new_text,[instance_num])….
• Excel LEN function
  The Excel LEN function returns the length of a text string (the number of characters in a text string).The syntax of the LEN function is as below:= LEN(text)…
• Excel TRIM function
  The Excel TRIM function removes all spaces from text string except for single spaces between words.  You can use the TRIM function to remove extra spaces between words in a string.The syntax of the TRIM function is as below:= TRIM (text)….