excel character map

Excel Character Codes and using CHAR / CODE functions

Written by on in Excel

Often we look to certain symbols in Excel that are hard to locate on the keyboard. Or the opposite – we look to find the Excel character codes for certain characters. In such cases we must usually revert to using the CHAR Excel function or the CODE Excel function. Let us explore these functions and how to use them both in Excel and VBA today.

Excel Character Codes

First let us start with exploring the Excel Character codes.

What is a Character Code? Each character is encoded as a number within a specific character map e.g. in ANSI or UTF8 standard

The table below represent the full default encoding in Excel:
excel character map
On the right side is the Excel character (CHAR) and on the left you have the numeric representation (CODE) of the character.

Converting Characters to Codes (Excel CODE function)

The Excel CODE function allows you to easily obtain the numeric code for the provided character (1 character string).

Syntax

The syntax for the CODE function in VBA is:

CODE( string )

Parameters

string
A single character string.

Example usage

Excel

Below example of using the Excel CODE function:
excel code function

VBA

Below VBA equivalent of the Excel CODE Funtion – the Asc function

Debug.Print Asc("<")
'Result: 60

Converting Codes to Characters (Excel CHAR function)

The Excel CHAR function allows you to easily obtain the character represented by the numeric code.

Syntax

The syntax for the CHAR function in Excel is:

CHAR( number)

Parameters

number
A number from 0-255.

Example usage

Excel

Below example of using the Excel CHAR function:
excel char function

VBA

Below VBA equivalent of the Excel CHAR Funtion – the Chr function:

Debug.Print Chr(60)
'Result: <
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