Excel wildcard for numbers May 30, 2025 · Wildcards only work with text, so Excel automatically converts numbers to text when using wildcard patterns. 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. Note that COUNTIF is not case-sensitive. You can use them to find and replace text, match patterns, and more. 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. I am aware the wildcards do not work on numbers but even if I change column data type to "Text" - it still doesn't work correctly. This is because Excel treats certain symbols as wildcards or operators rather than plain text. You can either locate the search item for reference, or you can replace it with something else. The Asterisk Wildcard: Any Number of Characters The first of the two wildcards in Microsoft Excel is an asterisk, which represents any number of characters, including no characters. I am using Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 package. =SUMIF (A1:A307,"1*",F1:F307) =SUMIF (A1:A307,"1????",F1:F307) don't work. Wildcard means that you do not specify a part of the search value (or the complete search value). Use the Find and Replace features in Excel to search for something in your workbook, such as a particular number or text string. Examples of wildcard character pattern matching in expressions To use a wildcard character within a pattern: Open your query in Design view. Asterisk (*) The asterisk character means any number of characters in the world of a wildcard search. Oct 28, 2015 · 52778* is text because of the *, 527789 is a number so the match doesn't work. Instead, we can combine the IF function with the COUNTIF function, which does support wildcards. Jul 28, 2016 · How do I write the countif criteria using wildcards in such a way that I can count those which have a numeric character? In the above example, the answer should 2 (1 and 2 not 3) May 12, 2025 · The Wildcards: Asterisk (*) and Question Mark (?) There are two wildcards in Excel, and knowing their purpose is crucial to understanding how wildcards work overall. 3. In this section, we’ll cover the available wildcards, for example, wildcard usage and functions that support wildcards. In Excel, you can use three different wildcards to build a formula. In the example shown, the formula in cell E5 is: =COUNTIF (data,D5) where data is the named range B5:B16. Jun 13, 2014 · I am only looking for a number followed by three non-numeric characters (i. 2 and my current wildcard is {"1. Users can use the VLOOKUP wildcard characters in scenarios such as looking up the first name in a lookup range of texts containing first and last names. Dec 16, 2022 · To sum if cells contain specific text, you can use the SUMIFS or SUMIF function with a wildcard. The three elements (each is enclosed in parentheses) of the Find are: ( [\ (]) — You need to find a specific character (the opening parenthesis), so you need to enclose it in parentheses. Wildcard characters are all about searching a text with a partial match. Wildcards are special characters that allow you to perform “fuzzy” matching on text in your formulas. This article teaches you how to use Find and Replace in Excel like a pro. Excel supports wildcard characters in formulas to return values that share the same pattern. The benefits of incorporating wildcards in Excel are enhanced productivity and time-saving Jan 15, 2024 · I'm hoping there's a way to make a wildcard out of that search term so that it would now look something like 4_W or 4#W, meaning it would look for any number between the 4 and the W, or respectively the 2 and the F, but only allowing numbers. You can include wildcard characters such as question marks, tildes, and asterisks, or numbers in your search terms. For example, Like R?308021 Dec 24, 2024 · Wildcards in Excel are powerful tools that allow users to perform complex search and replace operations on data within a spreadsheet. We also share examples for each wildcard and explain how to troubleshoot any issues. Feb 6, 2018 · Re: Wildcards but numbers only @AliGW Personally I have been ignoring this thread because I am waiting for a reply on another of Jimmy's threads which makes all the above bumps seem quite ironic. Here are some common uses of wildcards in Excel: ‍ Filtering and Searching: Use wildcards to filter and search for specific patterns within text values or strings. Master asterisk, question mark & tilde wildcards for efficient lookups. Excel has three wildcards: an asterisk, question mark, and tilde. If I have a pretty sloppy set of data on some worksheets, but I'd like a way of searching through the worksheets and finding instances of a kind of serial number combination of letters and numbers like the subject indicates is there a way to find those instances? Word has ways of doing wildcard character searches for numbers specifically or letters specifically, but as far as I know, excel Jul 8, 2023 · Wildcard Search: Selection on part of the criteria With a computer, you can perform a search on part of a text string using a wildcard, ? or *. 1 Match Starting Characters (Value&“*”) Steps: Type the following formula in cell D16 and press Enter on your keyboard. You put wildcards in functions, usually in the criteria argument, and this allows you to find partial matches for words, numbers, and characters. 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". 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. Wildcard characters are special Aug 30, 2024 · To learn all about using wildcard characters in Excel, continue reading the guide below. If a user is believed to have used such tools to provide a forum answer, sanctions may be imposed. COUNTIF returns 3, since there are three cells that begin with "apx". g. You could SUMPRODUCT, or an array formula, or FILTER if you have it (your profile is incomplete on that front) but best to avoid whole column references. Apr 1, 2025 · When working with Excel, you might encounter situations where special characters such as the asterisk (*) behave unexpectedly. Jul 3, 2024 · This article discusses three methods for using SUMIFS with a wildcard in Excel, as well as three other options. If you have numeric values, use logical operators in the formula. Whether you need to find and change Excel entries across multiple sheets, correct formatting issues, or even replace * in Excel (yes, wildcards work!), we’ll cover practical steps to save you time and frustration. May 26, 2024 · The two main wildcard characters in Excel are the asterisk (*), which represents any number of characters, and the question mark (?), which represents a single character. See below for a case-sensitive formula. There are three wildcard characters in Excel Question mark (?) May 21, 2024 · Method 1 – Using Wildcard Combining with INDEX and MATCH Functions for Finding Data with Partial Match 1. I want to do a sumif for all accounts starting 79xxx or 8xxxxx, but I can't wildcard a number. Wildcards in Excel are the special Excel characters that take the place of the characters in it. To illustrate, filtering the data set above for “J*ck” provides all results where the name started with “J” and ended with “ck”. 3 1. Mar 24, 2023 · You can use the Like operator in VBA along with the following built-in wildcard characters to search for specific patterns in strings: * : Matches any number of characters Remember Excel’s wildcard characters? If we use wildcard characters with SUMIF, we can sum values using partial criteria and the good news is Jul 2, 2019 · In word you can use a wildcard of ^# which finds any digit. However, if you use wildcards with a number, you'll convert the numeric value to a text value. In this post, you will learn how to use wildcard characters in Excel. The conditional function like COUNTIF,AND,OR, SEARCH are used here. 1 1. Learn how to efficiently search a range for a value using wildcards in Excel, a must-read guide for beginners aiming to enhance their data management skills. Question mark (?) : This wildcard is used to search for any single character. Here a guide to using them. Note that SUMIFS is not case-sensitive. Use the TEXT () function to convert numbers before applying wildcard operations for consistent results. This is where the Excel wildcard function comes in handy. Asterisk is used for multiple numbers of characters in Excel, while a question mark represents only a single character. Jun 10, 2023 · Using a wild card character for the TEXTAFTER function in Excel Asked 2 years, 5 months ago Modified 2 years, 5 months ago Viewed 3k times Aug 19, 2021 · Using the Asterix (*) Wildcard in VBA The Asterix wildcard replaces one or more characters in a VBA string. Nov 28, 2018 · Easily sum cells containing specific text for a partial match in Excel using the SUMIF or SUMIFS function with a wildcard. Can this formula (not VBA) be expanded to have this wildcard type Looking at number 1 above, you might be tempted to just add a column to flag each employee as a flag and then use a sumif formula, but that strategy quickly becomes cumbersome and impractical as the number of extra columns needed in your dataset increases. Jun 2, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use a wildcard in the COUNTIF function in Excel, including several examples. A wildcard is a special character that lets you perform "fuzzy" matching on text in your Excel formulas. Dec 11, 2013 · Forum Microsoft Office Application Help - Excel Help forum Excel Formulas & Functions [SOLVED] Wildcard not working in my COUNTIFS The use of AI tools (e. Is there a way to input a wildcard letter character in number formatting? Aug 17, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use the Find and Replace feature in Excel with wildcard characters, including several examples. Here we discuss how to use the three types of wildcards with examples and downloadable excel template. There are only 3 Excel wildcard characters (asterisk, question mark, and tilde) and a lot can be done using these. Learn how to use the COUNTIF function in Excel for partial matching, including wildcard characters, with helpful examples and explanations. Mar 25, 2024 · These wildcard characters worked for me successfully in other formulas, I don't know why COUNTIFS has a problem with them. Learn more about applying criteria to a query. Jan 29, 2025 · That’s where Excel’s Find and Replace tool shines. What Is VLOOKUP With Wildcard in Excel? The VLOOKUP wildcard characters enable one to lookup value using the VLOOKUP () with a partial match. In this article, we will explore what wildcards are, how to use them, and some common examples of wildcard usage in Excel. Mastering wildcards in replace with text in Excel allows users to quickly and efficiently manipulate data without the need for complicated formulas or manual editing. Aug 31, 2011 · What say you wanted to count the number of cells containing the word ‘apple’ in this table. In this guide, we're going to show you how to use Wildcard criteria in Excel formulas. May 11, 2024 · To perform a partial match with XLOOKUP, supply 2 for the match mode argument to allow wildcards. Excel wildcards Excel supports three wildcards that can be used in formulas: Asterisk (*) - zero or more characters Question mark (?) - any one character Jun 2, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use a wildcard in the COUNTIF function in Excel, including several examples. I can't seem to make any wildcard work. Use wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters and when you're searching and replacing content. However, see below for a case-sensitive option. Jul 27, 2012 · Wildcards don't work with numbers, and even if they did, your formula is ANDing the criteria, which is not possible. Jun 2, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use the SUBSTITUTE function in Excel with wildcard characters, including examples. Can Excel COUNTIFS function use a wildcard to match numeric data? E. with the following contrived table: I want to have a dropdown menu using Data Validation that allows the user to select 1, 2 Mar 25, 2022 · Microsoft Excel’s XLOOKUP() is powerful, but combined with wildcards, it’s also flexible. Sep 25, 2018 · Excel supports wildcard characters in formulas to find values that share a simple pattern. The left side of this formula piece is a cell reference. So, for example, “Ap*” will match “Apple“, “Application May 27, 2020 · In this blog, we would learn what are the wildcard characters and how can you use the wildcard characters in Excel to filter your data or do a partial Vlookup and many more exciting things. Perfect for data filtering, analysis, and creating dynamic reports. 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. Wildcards are characters that allow you to make more robust functions, searches, and filters in Excel. Unleash Excel's potential with wildcards! Explore advanced formulas, solve common issues, and boost productivity by using wildcard in excel. May 14, 2024 · Explanation Excel supports the wildcard characters "*" and "?", and these wildcards can be used to perform partial (substring) matches in various lookup formulas. Filtering for “*eck” provided us with all results that ends with “eck”. text) or two numbers, followed by two non-numeric characters. Learn how to use the wildcard characters in Excel with real example formulas and practice exercises. 3*"} - which picks up the last two, but not the first. There will also be solutions covering case sensitivity. Jan 17, 2021 · Advanced XLOOKUP example 2: Wildcard lookups Our next advanced XLOOKUP example is about wildcard characters. It would need to exclude letters. The following table shows the wildcard characters you can use with the Like operator and the number of digits or strings they match. In the example shown, XLOOKUP is configured to match the value entered in cell E5, which may appear anywhere in the lookup values in B5:B15. Replace one or more characters in the criteria with a wildcard character. You could simply use a wildcard (an asterisk, *, is a wildcard in Excel) in your COUNTIF formula like this: =COUNTIF(A5:A9,"*apples*") Your result will be 4. Jun 3, 2024 · Learn to use wildcards in Excel's IF Function for partial text matches, making it easy to check if a cell contains a specific word. However, because parentheses are special wildcard characters in their own right, you need to tell Word to treat them as normal text characters and not as special characters, so you put in a backslash Jun 8, 2023 · This tutorial demonstrates how to find and replace text and values using wildcards in Excel and Google Sheets. It will help you look up a value Jul 27, 2012 · Wildcards don't work with numbers, and even if they did, your formula is ANDing the criteria, which is not possible. Dec 6, 2022 · To count the number of cells that begin with specific text, you can use the COUNTIF function with a wildcard. My numbers all have 5 digits so I've tried 1* and 1????. In this tutorial we will look at the correct way to use wildcard syntax in Excel’s COUNTIFS and SUMIFS function. And wildcards work well for numeric and text values. Excel lets you use Wildcard characters for catching strings and perform functions on it. They can be used to find and replace text, numbers, or a combination of both. Lets look at the following range of cells in Excel: By using an Asterix wildcard in our VBA code, we can find all the Firstnames that begin with “M” and change the color of the text to red. In the Criteria row of the field that you want to use, type the operator Like in front of your criteria. These can also be used in the Conditional Formatting rules that use the "Only format cells that contain specific text" criteria. In this tutorial, I will show you four examples where these Excel wildcard characters are absolute lifesavers. , w*) and returns all matching values (in one or several cells). In the example shown, the formula in H7 is: =TRANSPOSE((XLOOKUP(H4,D5:D15,B5:E15,"Not found",2))) which performs a wildcard match with the value in H4 and returns all 4 fields as the result. Apr 9, 2025 · 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 contrast, the tilde is the identification of the wild card character. Jan 6, 2020 · Wildcard represents one or more other characters. My data includes values like: 1. I’m trying to use a wildcard in an IF statement, and it basically comes down to this statement below that should be false, but excel populates true. In the example shown, the formula in H7 is: =VLOOKUP(value&"*",data,2,FALSE) where value (H4) and data (B5:E104) are named ranges. This comprehensive guide aims to demystify wildcards in Excel for beginners, intermediate users, and advanced users alike. Feb 7, 2019 · I am recording form numbers in a column, which are very similar and can be sequential but include, one to three random system generated letters: for example: 3366-011-334J-P 3366-011-337L-C 3366-011-335M-P The only characters that change are the 10th-15th character of the number. Feb 20, 2025 · Discover how to effectively use the asterisk in Excel formulas. Feb 8, 2019 · I'm trying to figure out a formula that helps me search a row for a wildcard text (e. Mar 26, 2019 · Become an Excel wildcard wizard with our comprehensive guide! Learn how to master wildcard characters in Excel for efficient data analysis. By using wildcards with VLOOKUP you can win all those situations where it's hard to use VLOOKUP. Feb 27, 2006 · I'm trying to get the sum of a list of numbers that start with a certain number (in this example 1). Jul 13, 2024 · Learn how to use wildcards with XLOOKUP in Excel for powerful, flexible data searches. Sep 1, 2014 · I know that Excel does not support wildcard conditions for numbers, however, I have formatted column B as type "Text" in Excel, so I thought it would be treated as such, but it appears that it is still treated as an int. 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. Format the number as text, or put an apostrophe in front of the number and it will work. What I have looks something like this: What I Jul 6, 2024 · We have discussed 5 methods to use the wildcard in IF statement in Excel. Nov 16, 2022 · SUMIF Wildcards Not Working Hello, I cannot get the SUMIF wildcards working correctly. You can search by rows and columns, search within Jun 5, 2014 · I even tried multiplying (6&"*")* 1 to convert back to a number but it doesn't work :P If I want to exclude a certain number in one of the argument of the SUMIFS formula from above then I would put <>6201, without any quotes, correct? Say for example: In column E (Account), I have a list of 5-digit numbers (12345, 22222, etc), in column H (year to date), I have the respective amount for each account. For example, finding everything starting with “a”. Aug 23, 2022 · Unfortunately, Excel’s Filter function does not perform partial-match or wildcard searches. 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. Unlock new efficiency and precision in your spreadsheet tasks today. ‍ What are some uses of Wildcards in Excel? Wildcards in Excel offer powerful functionality for performing flexible and dynamic searches, filtering, and data manipulation. Will someone please tell me what I'm doing incorrectly? Thanks in advance. How can I achieve this? Right now Excel is not knowing the difference because the question mark stands for "any character" - so what can I use as a wildcard to look for only non-numeric characters? Mar 13, 2025 · Learn how to count cells containing text, numbers, errors, blanks, and more using advanced formulas and techniques. Not all functions can execute Wildcards with Excel Jul 30, 2025 · Wildcards in Excel are special characters used in search and replace operations to substitute multiple characters with a single symbol. If you’re an Excel user, you’ve probably heard of wildcards. Filtering for “G*” provided us with all results that Want to learn how to use the Excel formula: Partial match against numbers with wildcard? This post will give you an overview of how to use the Excel formula: Partial match against numbers with wildcard function in Excel. For example, if i'm looking for a phone number in a word document i can go ^#^#^#-^#^#^#-^#^#^#^# This will find any phone numbers within the document. Sep 18, 2024 · Excel Wildcard characters and Examples As we mentioned above, wildcards only work with text. For example, searching for "T?m" could return "Tim" or "Tom" * takes the place of any number of characters. Feb 28, 2022 · This function explains how to use a wildcard character in a SUMIFS function in Excel, including an example. Apr 7, 2025 · We explain different types of Excel VLOOKUP wildcard. chatGPT, BARD, GPT4 etc) to create forum answers is not permitted. Edit - you could add another column to force numbers to text with the formula =TEXT(B1,"#") and then match on that. Is there a different way of applying a wildcard condition in =SUMIFS for number values in Excel? May 18, 2023 · The IF function doesn't support wildcards directly, so we can't use IF by itself. . For example, this formula: Mar 14, 2023 · The tutorial shows how to make Excel IF statement with wildcard text and get it to work for partial matches. Master its roles as a multiplication operator and wildcard to enhance your data analysis skills. Notice that the wildcard search is not case sensitive and it will count any instance of the word, even where it’s not a word on its own like 4 days ago · Learn how to master partial matches in Excel, from traditional wildcard characters to using AI tools for faster, more intuitive data lookups and analysis. Guide to Wildcard In Excel. Yes, there are actually four parts of a custom format that Excel will recognize: a part for positive numbers, one for negative numbers, one for zeroes, and one for text. Mar 30, 2022 · VBA language referenceBuilt-in pattern matching provides a versatile tool for making string comparisons. Sections: Wildcards Question Mark Example Asterisk Example Tilde Example Referencing Use wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters and when you're searching and replacing content. Excel offers nearly 20 worksheet functions that support the ability to use wildcards in their arguments to filter results. You will learn what wildcards are, how to use them effectively in various Excel functions, best practices, and troubleshooting tips to enhance your productivity. Asterisk (*): This wildcard is used to find any number of characters preceding or following any character. Oct 23, 2023 · The XLOOKUP function contains built-in support for wildcards, but this feature must be enabled explicitly by setting match mode to the number 2. Wildcards are used to make more sophisticated partial matches. Discover how to use wildcards in Excel to find and analyze data with partial information. Wildcards are useful when you want to specify partial criteria such as “begins with”, “ends with” or “contains”. e. ? takes the place of a single character. Jan 6, 2022 · Excel Wildcard 2 – Asterisk (*) The asterisk symbol represents any number of characters prior or after the asterisk. For more about using wildcard characters with the Find and Replace features in Excel, see Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet. Tilde (~): This wildcard is an escape character, used preceding the question mark (?) or asterisk mark (*). The TRANSPOSE function is optional and used here only to convert the result from XLOOKUP to a vertical array. 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. In this blog, we will explore how to escape characters in Excel to ensure they are interpreted correctly. 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Excel wildcard for numbers. Note that SUMIFS is not case-sensitive.