How To Search In Excel

We’ll give you examples of the most popular functions

There are multiple ways to search in Excel. The first options are if you have a massive spreadsheet of data and need to find a particular piece of data in a cell or group of cells.

The second set of options include using search functions like VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP that let you search one sheet for data and output the results in a second cell location or in a different worksheet.

In this article, you’ll learn all possible ways to search in Excel so you can choose the right one for your situation.

Using Find In Excel

With Excel open to your spreadsheet with data, you can find anything on the spreadsheet using a straight word search, or using special wildcard characters.

Select theHomemenu. In the Editing group in the ribbon, selectFind & Selectthen selectFind.

You’ll see a simple Find and Replace window, but you can see all of the advanced options by selectingOptions.

You can use the following options to fine tune your search:

If you selectFind Next, you’ll see each incident in the spreadsheet where the text is found highlighted. Select the button again to move on to the next result. If you want to see them all at once, just selectFind All.

This displays all of the results, along with the sheet and cell number where they’re found, in a list at the bottom of the window. Just select any one of them to see that cell in the sheet.

Excel Search Wildcard Characters

When you’re typing search characters into the Find What field, it’s important that you understand how wildcard characters work. These let you customize more advanced search so you can search in Excel and find exactly what you’re looking for in the worksheet.

Using Replace In Excel

In the same Find and Replace window, if you select theReplacetab, you’ll see additional options that’ll let you not only find text or numbers in your spreadsheet but you can replace those with different text or numbers.

You can also open this window at the Replace tab by selecting theHomemenu, selectingFind & Replacefrom the Editing group in the ribbon, and then selectingReplace. Just like in the previous section, you’ll need to selectOptionsto see all of the advanced search features.

All of the advanced search features work exactly like they do in the Find tab. The only difference is that now you’ll see aReplace withfield.

The way this field works is you type the text or number you’d like to replace the text you’ve entered into theFind whatfield with. Then, you follow the steps below to search and replace all instances of what you’re searching for.

If you’re very brave, you could selectReplace Allrather than stepping through every one using the procedure above. However if there are any instances where the word or number you’re searching for is a section of text in a cell you don’t want to replace, you could risk losing data that you don’t want to replace.

Using Functions To Search In Excel

There are also lots of useful functions in Excel that let you search columns, rows, or tables to find information and return related information.

The following are a few examples of the most popular functions you can use to search in Excel.

Searching for data in Excel doesn’t have to be complicated. If you know what you’re looking for and what you want to do with the data, there is an option available to accomplish the search.

Ryan has been writing how-to and other technology-based articles online since 2007. He has a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering and he’s worked 13 years in automation engineering, 5 years in IT, and now is an Apps Engineer.Read Ryan’s Full Bio

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How To Search In Excel#

Using Find In Excel#

Excel Search Wildcard Characters#

Using Replace In Excel#

Using Functions To Search In Excel#