Spreadsheet Practice

How to check the length of text with IF in Excel

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=IF(LEN(A2)=$E$1,"OK","Wrong length")

Compare LEN with the required length: =IF(LEN(A2)=$E$1,"OK","Wrong length").

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B7
Works in
Every current version
Google Sheets
Same formula

See it work

The formula is already in B2, filled down to B7. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

LEN counts every character, letters, digits, spaces and punctuation alike. IF compares the count with the required length kept in E1. "AC 3041" has 7 characters including the space.

=IF(LEN(A2)=$E$1,"OK","Wrong length")

Result"OK"

  1. A2"AC104522"

    The value in A2.

  2. LEN(A2)8

    LEN: Number of characters.

    • textA2"AC104522"
  3. $E$18

    The value in E1.

  4. LEN(A2)=$E$1TRUE

    The = operator tests whether the two sides are equal.

  5. IF(LEN(A2)=$E$1,"OK","Wrong length")"OK"

    IF: Returns one value if a test is true, another if false.

    • logical_testLEN(A2)=$E$1TRUE
    • value_if_true"OK"
    • value_if_false"Wrong length"not used

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =IF(LEN(A2)=$E$1,"OK","Wrong length"). We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=IF(LEN(TRIM(A2))=$E$1,"OK","Wrong length")OK, Wrong length, Wrong length…Ignores leading and trailing spaces, which imports often add.
=LEN(A2)8, 7, 9…Different resultThe length itself, to see how far off each ID is. Shows 8, 7, 9, 8, 7 and 8.

Common mistakes

  • LEN counts spaces and punctuation, so a stray space makes a valid-looking ID the wrong length.
  • Numbers lose leading zeros: an ID typed as 00123 is stored as 123, which has 3 characters. Store IDs as text.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Check the length of text with IF

In B2, show "OK" when the ID has exactly the number of characters in E1, otherwise "Wrong length". Fill down to B7.

Questions

How do I allow a range of lengths?

=IF(AND(LEN(A2)>=8,LEN(A2)<=10),"OK","Wrong length").

How do I enforce the length while typing?

Use Data Validation with Text length, equal to 8.

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.