Python String find() Method (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 26 Apr, 2025

find() method in Python returns the index of the first occurrence of a substring within a given string. If the substring is not found, it returns -1. This method is case-sensitive, which means “abc**” is treated differently from “ABC**“. Example:

Python `

s = "Welcome to GeekforGeeks!" index = s.find("GeekforGeeks") print(index)

Explanation: The substring “GeeksforGeeks” starts at index 11 in the string “**Welcome to GeeksforGeeks!**“. Hence, **find() method returns **11

Syntax of find() method

s.find(substring, start, end))

**Parameter:

**substring: The substring to search for within the main string **s.
**start (optional): The starting index from where to begin the search.
**end (optional): The ending index where the search should stop.

**Return Value:

Returns the first index of the substring if it is found within the specified range.
Returns -1 if the substring is not found.

Examples of find() method

**Example 1: We can limit the search to a specific portion of the string by providing **start and **end parameters.

Python `

s = "abc abc abc" index = s.find("abc", 4) print(index)

**Explanation:

The search starts from index 4, skipping the first “**abc“.
The next occurrence of “**abc” is found at index **8.

**Example 2: The find() method is case-sensitive, so uppercase and lowercase letters are treated differently.

Python `

s = "Python is fun" index = s.find("python") print(index)

Explanation: Since “python” (lowercase) does not match “**Python” (uppercase), the method returns **-1.

**Example 3: In this example, we are searching for the first occurrence of a substring “abc” in a string that contains multiple spaces between the words.

Python `

s = "abc abc abc" res = s.find("abc") print(res)

**Explanation: The substring “abc” starts at index 0 in the string “abc abc abc”, so find() returns 0.

find() vs index()

Both find() and index() methods locate a substring within a string. However, they differ in behavior when the substring is not found.

**find() returns the index or -1 if not found
**index() same as find(), but raises a ValueError if not found

To learn more, please refer to “Difference Between find( ) and index( ) in Python“.

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