Is there a wildcard in excel formulas. A question mark (?) matches exactly one character.
Is there a wildcard in excel formulas If you’re an Excel user, you’ve probably heard of wildcards. Wildcards are special characters used in Excel that replace other characters in a formula. Feb 20, 2025 · Discover how to effectively use the asterisk in Excel formulas. By using wildcards with VLOOKUP you can win all those situations where it's hard to use VLOOKUP. Excel offers nearly 20 worksheet functions that support the ability to use wildcards in their arguments to filter results. Cells B4:E4 allow you to include or exclude specific conditions using drop down lists. Asterisk (*) The asterisk character means any number of characters in the world of a wildcard search. However, see below for a case-sensitive option. Discover how to use wildcards in Excel to find and analyze data with partial information. In Excel, there are three wildcards: Asterisk (*), question mark (?), and tilde (~). Aug 23, 2022 · Unfortunately, Excel’s Filter function does not perform partial-match or wildcard searches. Unleash Excel's potential with wildcards! Explore advanced formulas, solve common issues, and boost productivity by using wildcard in excel. Formulas and Functions: Utilize wildcards within formulas and functions to perform dynamic calculations and manipulations. Simply placing the tilde before the asterisk tells Excel that the asterisk is not to be used as a wildcard. You can use them to find and replace text, match patterns, and more. A wildcard is a special character that lets you perform "fuzzy" matching on text in your Excel formulas. Jun 3, 2021 · To retrieve information from a table based on a partial match, you can use the VLOOKUP function in exact match mode with a wildcard. You can use these wildcards to find or filter data, and you can also use them in formulas. An asterisk (*) matches zero or more characters. Here are some examples. Feb 18, 2020 · I am attempting to extract a word, preferably wildcard style from a cell and then place the desired text in another cell. For instance, you can use a wildcard pattern to validate inputs that follow a specific format or structure. In this blog, we will explore how to escape characters in Excel to ensure they are interpreted correctly. They serve as placeholders for unknown characters or sequences of characters in cells, making it easier to filter, search, or manipulate data dynamically. Wildcards with IF function explained here with examples. The Wildcards: Asterisk (*) and Question Mark (?) There are two wildcards in Excel, and knowing their purpose is crucial to understanding how Nov 25, 2025 · Learn how to master partial matches in Excel, from traditional wildcard characters to using AI tools for faster, more intuitive data lookups and analysis. In the example shown, the formula in cell F5 is: =SUMIFS(C5:C16,B5:B16,"*hoodie*") This formula sums the quantity in column C when the text in column B contains "hoodie". May 26, 2024 · By using wildcards in your Excel formulas, you can greatly expand the power and flexibility of your data analysis. Jul 6, 2024 · 5 Methods to Use Wildcard with IF Statement in Excel You can’t use the wildcard in the IF formula alone, but you can use it in conjunction with other functions. Aug 1, 2024 · Discover the power of wildcards in Excel! Our comprehensive guide covers how to use them to enhance your data searches and streamline your spreadsheet tasks. Aug 31, 2011 · The tilde wild card allows you to search for words that contain a wild card - either * or ?. However, the date value also contains the tim Sep 27, 2021 · Excel, as a program, is used by many users for ease of data analysis and documentation, which is done in columns and rows. Jul 6, 2024 · In this article, you will learn about how to Find and Replace data in Excel using the Find and Replace tool, functions, shortcuts etc. Aug 17, 2022 · To count cells that contain certain text, you can use the COUNTIF function with a wildcard. Use wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters and when you're searching and replacing content. Watch the Video Oct 21, 2025 · Wildcards in Excel are special characters that can stand in for other characters in a text string. With a bit of creativity, you will learn in this article how to perform “Begins With”, “Ends With”, “Contains”, and “Does Not Contain” search criteria, so that you can carry out more complex filtering with your dynamic array formulas. Sep 25, 2018 · Excel supports wildcard characters in formulas to find values that share a simple pattern. Guide to Wildcard in Excel. The tilde character, on the other hand, is used to denote a wildcard 2 days ago · Learn how to use regex match in Excel XLOOKUP and XMATCH to search patterns, validate formats, and work with structured data, complete with formula examples and practical tips. Apr 1, 2025 · When working with Excel, you might encounter situations where special characters such as the asterisk (*) behave unexpectedly. There will also be solutions covering case sensitivity. Excel Wildcard Symbols A wildcard is a special character that can be substituted for characters when filtering or looking up data. Jul 3, 2024 · Alternatives to Application of SUMIFS Function with Wildcard in Excel The SUMIF function can be an alternative option with wildcards if there is only one criterion. Nov 22, 2019 · Excel wildcards can be used to replace any character in Excel and allow the user to perform advanced searches and partial matching. Please post your discoveries in the comments below for all to share. If you have numeric values, use logical operators in the formula. Mar 14, 2023 · Everything you need to know about wildcards: what wildcard characters Excel recognizes, and how to best use them with built-in features and in formulas with text and numbers. Mar 14, 2023 · The tutorial shows how to make Excel IF statement with wildcard text and get it to work for partial matches. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know to start using wildcards in Excel formulas effectively. There are three wildcard characters in Excel Question mark (?) Wildcards with IF function is used to find phrases in Excel. It will help you look up a value How to Use Wildcards? In this article, we will learn about how and when to use Wildcard characters or in-built regex (regular expressions) characters for excel functions. The problem I am having is that I wanted to use an IF statement but with a wildcard but now know that is not possible but I don't know a workaround. This is the formula that works for Mar 26, 2019 · Become an Excel wildcard wizard with our comprehensive guide! Learn how to master wildcard characters in Excel for efficient data analysis. May 18, 2023 · Explanation The goal of this formula is to verify whether the values in column B follow the format xx-xxxx-xxx, where "x" represents any single character. There are different types of wildcard characters, each of them with different uses. In this post, you will learn how to use wildcard characters in Excel. Feb 2, 2024 · Excel XLOOKUP function - syntax and uses The XLOOKUP function in Excel searches a range or an array for a specified value and returns the related value from another column. These can also be used in the Conditional Formatting rules that use the "Only format cells that contain specific text" criteria. There are other formulas you can use Wildcards with so feel free to experiment. Here we discuss how to use Wildcard Characters in Excel along with examples and downloadable excel template. There are 3 types of wildcards in Excel. There are three Excel wildcard characters (asterisk, question mark, and tilde) that can get some amazing stuff done in Excel. This can be extremely useful. Think of them as “jokers” you can use in your formulas. Sep 18, 2024 · Excel Wildcard characters and Examples As we mentioned above, wildcards only work with text. Here a guide to using them. Jan 6, 2022 · This tutorial will demonstrate how to use wildcard characters in Excel and Google Sheets. You can use wildcard characters in Excel formulas for partial matches. In this section, we’ll cover the available wildcards, for example, wildcard usage and functions that support wildcards. We will look for a specific partial text with the wildcards. The IF function doesn't support wildcards directly, so we can't use IF by itself. Press CTRL + F to launch the Find and Replace dialog box. Jul 13, 2024 · Learn how to use wildcards with XLOOKUP in Excel for powerful, flexible data searches. Excel lets you use Wildcard characters for catching strings and perform functions on it. Excel has three wildcard characters, and they only work with […] Apr 7, 2025 · We explain different types of Excel VLOOKUP wildcard. They represent non-specified characters to help you locate text values with "fuzzy" matches. Excel wildcards The Wildcards: Asterisk (*) and Question Mark (?) There are two wildcards in Excel, and knowing their purpose is crucial to understanding how wildcards work overall. What Are Wildcards? Wildcards are special characters that allow users to perform searches and other operations with a level of flexibility. They are useful when working with data sets with similar, but not identical data. For more about using wildcard characters with the Find and Replace features in Excel, see Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet. For example, if you are looking for a string with known ending or beginning, and unknown characters in the middle, you can use wildcard characters to tell Excel to look for all compatible matches. Mar 21, 2023 · The tutorial explains how to use FIND and SEARCH functions in Excel with formula examples. Today in this post, I’d like to share with you a simple way to use SUMIF with wildcard characters explaining the usage of all three characters with examples. This blog post explores some examples of using wildcard characters in formulas to find, sum or count cells containing partial matches to what we are searching for. Hi All I need help. (The 1 is the resul Wildcard characters are all about searching a text with a partial match. Use wildcard characters in Excel formulas to perform partial matches on text. Wildcards are characters that allow you to make more robust functions, searches, and filters in Excel. Sections: Wildcards Question Mark Example Asterisk Example Tilde Example Referencing . Wildcards in Excel Excel has 3 wildcards. Oct 6, 2022 · This tutorial explains how to use wildcard characters in an Excel FILTER function, including examples. For example, this formula: Excel supports wildcard characters in formulas to return values that share the same pattern. In Excel, wildcards are most commonly used in formulas, filtering features, and lookup functions Use wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters and when you're searching and replacing content. In the example shown, the formula in E5 is: =COUNTIF(B5:B15,"*a*") The result is 6, since there are six cells in B5:B15 that contain the letter "a". Dec 16, 2022 · To sum if cells contain specific text, you can use the SUMIFS or SUMIF function with a wildcard. This is because Excel treats certain symbols as wildcards or operators rather than plain text. May 30, 2025 · Excel uses three wildcards: * (asterisk) matches any number of characters, ? (question mark) matches exactly one character, and ~ (tilde) escapes wildcards to treat them as literal text. In this guide, I'll run through all the key symbols (listed alphabetically), explain how you can use them, and show you some examples to make things clearer. I want to get ANY result where there is a "1" present in a cell. We also share examples for each wildcard and explain how to troubleshoot any issues. Jul 18, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use an IF function with a wildcard in Excel, including an example. Jun 11, 2021 · Hi guys, How do I specify a wildcard whereby if there is mention of the word: close (or closed) in column H, highlight the whole row where close or closed is mentioned, the row should be highlighted in green thanks, R. It can look up both vertically and horizontally and perform an exact match (default), approximate (closest) match, or wildcard (partial) match. There are three wildcards in Excel: the asterisk, question mark, and tilde. Wildcard lookups and include or exclude criteria - Excel 365 The image above shows an Excel 365 formula that extracts records from a data set located on sheet2 based on criteria specified in cells B3:E5. In the example shown, the formula in H7 is: =VLOOKUP (value&"*",data,2,FALSE) where value (H4) and data (B5:E104) are named ranges. Asterisk (*) is used to match any number of characters in the word. Wildcards are special characters that allow you to perform “fuzzy” matching on text in your formulas. We’ll use a dataset of Product Lists of ABC Company. Sometimes you don't know, or don't need to know the full cell content. Jan 6, 2020 · You can use wildcards for filtering, searching, or inside the formulas. The characters are used to look for a text string with the same known patterns — the beginning and the ending characters, and also, the number of characters presented in the cell. Sep 28, 2025 · Symbols and signs in Microsoft Excel are crucial for data manipulation, data analysis, and high-quality formulas. That is where t Sep 4, 2021 · Wildcard characters are special characters in Microsoft Excel that let you extend or narrow down your search query. Master asterisk, question mark & tilde wildcards for efficient lookups. I need to create a formula that shows 'overdue' if it is more than 10 days past the jobs completion date. On the other hand, Wildcards are very special because they are characters that replace other characters in Excel formulas. May 12, 2025 · Wildcards in Microsoft Excel let you search for partial matches, broaden your filters, and create formulas that reference cells containing certain strings. The asterisk symbol denotes the occurrence of zero or more characters, while the question mark symbol signifies the presence of only a single character. Apr 18, 2024 · Explore what does asterisk mean in Excel formula with the practical applications of its usage and the best practice of asterisk. And now, let’s get started… 1. Excel allows the use of wildcards in filters, the Find and Replace tool and especially in formulas. Wildcards can be used in functions like COUNTIF, SUMIF, and VLOOKUP to match specific patterns or conditions. A question mark (?) matches exactly one character. They are incredibly useful for finding, filtering, or matching data when you only have a partial match. There are two wildcards in Excel: Jun 2, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use the SUBSTITUTE function in Excel with wildcard characters, including examples. And a tilde (~). Note that SUMIFS is not case-sensitive. Instead, we can combine the IF function with the COUNTIF function, which does support wildcards. Learn how to use the wildcard characters in Excel with real example formulas and practice exercises. In Excel, you can use three different wildcards to build a formula. Unlock new efficiency and precision in your spreadsheet tasks today. Tilde (~) is used to remove wildcard characters like an asterisk (*) and question mark (?) in excel. In this guide, we're going to show you how to use Excel Wildcard characters for setting up formula criteria. Question Mark (?) is used to match any single character or pattern of the words. One Character A single question mark (?) matches exactly one (any) character. Wildcards are used to make more sophisticated partial matches. Apr 9, 2025 · 2. Master its roles as a multiplication operator and wildcard to enhance your data analysis skills. Dec 6, 2017 · Is there a way to use a wildcard to count the partial string of a date? In my spreadsheet, I want to use the COUNTIF function to count a certain date. Here is a Jun 15, 2015 · I have a scenario where I am using a number of formulas I am comfortable with together and not getting a result. You put wildcards in functions, usually in the criteria argument, and this allows you to find partial matches for words, numbers, and characters. They are, Asterisk (*), Question Mark (?), and Tilde (~). If you want to learn about wildcard characters you learn from this guide and make sure to download this data file from here to follow along.