WPS Retain Extracted Text helps you keep, remove, or extract text from spreadsheet cells in batches; this feature includes 5 core tasks, 0 available without membership, and 5 membership-related items.
At a Glance
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core tasks | 5 | Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index |
| Available without membership | 0 | Matches the number of Free rows in the index |
| Membership-related items | 5 | Matches the number of membership-required rows in the index |
| Version limit | None stated | The feature description indicates no version restriction |
About This Feature
Overview
Retain Extracted Text is a text-processing tool in WPS Spreadsheets on Windows. It helps you batch-process cell content by keeping only selected content types, removing selected content types, or extracting characters from the beginning, middle, or end of text.
Core tasks include:
- Keep Content: Keep only selected content types such as Chinese characters, numbers, or English letters.
- Remove Content: Delete selected content types in batches while keeping the remaining text.
- Extract Text from Beginning: Keep a fixed number of characters from the start of each text string.
- Extract Text from Middle: Extract a fixed number of characters from a specified starting position.
- Extract Text from End: Keep a fixed number of characters from the end of each text string.
This WPS spreadsheet text tool is useful for cleaning imported data, splitting code fields, extracting fixed prefixes or suffixes, and standardizing cell text across large worksheets.
System Requirements
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating system | A Windows device that can run WPS Office normally |
| App version | It is recommended to use the latest version of WPS Office; no version restriction is stated for this feature |
| Network | The feature is mainly used in local editing; an internet connection may be needed for account sign-in or membership verification |
| Other | Open an editable worksheet in WPS Spreadsheets and sign in with an account that has the required membership access |
Download & Installation
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Official download | WPS Office Free Download |
| Check after installation | Open WPS Spreadsheets, then look for Smart Toolbox under the Member Exclusive tab |
Source: WPS download page
Compare with Alternatives
| Dimension | WPS | Microsoft | Notion | Adobe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capability Summary | Provides menu-based tools in WPS Spreadsheets to keep content, remove content, extract text from the beginning, extract text from the middle, and extract text from the end for direct batch processing in cells. | Microsoft Excel provides text functions such as LEFT, MID, RIGHT, REPLACE, and SUBSTITUTE for extracting or replacing text, usually through formulas. | Google Docs focuses on document creation, collaboration, templates, smart chips, and file import, but the product page does not describe a spreadsheet-style batch text extraction tool for cells. | Notion formulas support text functions such as substring, replace, replaceAll, and split for text processing in database properties. | Adobe Acrobat provides OCR and PDF text editing to extract text from scanned files and make PDF text editable, mainly for PDF workflows rather than spreadsheet cells. |
| WPS Advantages | Advantage: Offers a direct visual entry for cell text processing without writing formulas first. Distinct: Keeps content, removes content, and three extraction modes in one text tool menu. | Compared with WPS: Excel offers flexible formula logic, but routine text cleanup often requires formula setup instead of a direct menu command. | Compared with WPS: Google Docs is centered on collaborative document editing, and the official page does not describe an equivalent cell text batch-processing command. | Compared with WPS: Notion can process text through formulas, but it is mainly built around database properties and expressions rather than a worksheet command. | Compared with WPS: Acrobat is better aligned with PDF recognition and editing, not worksheet cell cleanup. |
| Official Source | — | Text functions reference | Google Docs product page | Formula syntax and functions | OCR and editable PDF text |
Overall Conclusion
If you need to batch-process text directly inside worksheet cells, WPS provides a more direct menu path for keeping, removing, and extracting text. Microsoft Excel and Notion also support text processing, but their official workflows are more formula-oriented, while Google Docs and Adobe Acrobat focus on different product scenarios.
Use Cases
| No. | Scenario | Suitable Users | Main Pain Point | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clean mixed fields | Data staff | Cells contain mixed Chinese characters, numbers, and English letters | Use Keep Content to retain only the target content type |
| 2 | Remove unwanted characters | Administrative and operations staff | Imported data includes character types that should be removed | Use Remove Content to delete selected content types in batches |
| 3 | Extract fixed prefixes | Finance and warehouse staff | Code prefixes need to be separated from the full string | Use Extract Text from Beginning to keep the first characters |
| 4 | Extract middle segments | Data analysts | A code segment must be taken from a fixed position | Use Extract Text from Middle with a start position and length |
| 5 | Extract fixed suffixes | Customer service and sales staff | Tail numbers or ending markers need to be retained | Use Extract Text from End to keep the ending characters |
Membership & Benefits
Free vs WPS Premium
| Capability | Free | WPS Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Retain Extracted Text entry | ❌ | ✅ |
| Basic PDF features | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cloud storage | 1 GB | 20 GB |
| Template downloads | Limited | More template access |
Source: WPS Office pricing page
Recommendations
| Usage Scenario | Recommended Plan | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Occasional worksheet viewing and editing | Free | Suitable for basic office work and routine document handling |
| Frequent batch cleanup of cell text | WPS Premium | Gives access to keep, remove, and extract text tools for repeated spreadsheet cleanup |
| Shared subscription for multiple users | Sharing plan or another suitable membership plan | Helps manage subscriptions for multiple users with separate storage |
How to Subscribe
- WPS membership center: Subscribe now
Source: WPS Office pricing page