REPT Function in Excel: Explained

In this article, you will learn how to use the REPT formula in Excel.

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What is the REPT formula in Excel?

The REPT formula in Excel is used to repeat a text string a given number of times.

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When should you use the REPT function in Excel?

You should use the REPT function in Excel when you need to repeat a text string a certain number of times. This can be useful in many different situations, such as:

1. Creating a series of characters or symbols: You can use the REPT function to create a series of characters or symbols, such as a line of dashes or bullets, to visualize numeric values.
2. Formatting cells: The REPT function can allow you to add a certain number of leading or trailing characters to a cell to help format it, such as adding a certain number of spaces before or after a cell's contents.

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How do you use the REPT formula in Excel?

The general syntax of the REPT function in Excel is as follows:

<pre><code>=REPT(text,number_times)</code></pre>

text: A text string that is repeated the specified number of times defined in the “number_times” argument.

number_times: This parameter determines how many times the text string is repeated in a cell.

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Note 1: If the “number_times” argument is zero, the function gives you “” (empty text)

Note 2: If the “number_times” parameter is not an integer, it is truncated

Note 3: If the outcome of the REPT formula is longer than 32,767 characters, the function returns a #VALUE! error value.

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Look at the simple examples below. Text strings of “Hello”, “ABC”, and “X” are repeated two times, five times, and ten times, respectively, in Column D by the REPT formula.

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As another example, imagine that you have a client list containing clients’ names and their loyalty scores and that you want to visualize them with a character “・”, a bullet.

You can use the CHAR formula to insert a specific character. Using the CHAR and REPT formulas, you can create a column showing visualized data. In the picture below, the REPT function repeats the specific symbol the same number of times as the loyalty score for each item. (e.g., if a client loyalty score is 5, the REPT repeats the character five times, which generates five bullets in a cell).

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You can learn about Google Sheets formulas and tips and other Excel functions and tips on this page: LiveFlow‘s How to Guides