Excel wildcard does not contain , try using FIND() with IFERROR(). The workaround: *Can also use SEARCH instead of FIND when case does not matter. Mar 14, 2023 · The tutorial shows how to make Excel IF statement with wildcard text and get it to work for partial matches. 21 votes, 12 comments. I want to check if that cell contains any of the values in the column. Regex patterns are very flexible and can be configured to match numbers, email addresses, dates, and other values that have an identifiable pattern. Returns true if the value is found. Master asterisk, question mark & tilde wildcards for efficient lookups. Here are some examples. Jun 3, 2021 · Contains type match For a "contains type" match, where the search string can appear anywhere in the lookup value, you need to use two wildcards like this: = VLOOKUP ("*" & value & "*", data,2,FALSE) This will join an asterisk to both sides of the lookup value so that VLOOKUP will find the first match that contains the text typed into H4. Here we discuss how to use the three types of wildcards with examples and downloadable excel template. Simply placing the tilde before the asterisk tells Excel that the asterisk is not to be used as a wildcard. Jul 21, 2025 · Unlock Excel's IF Cell Contains power! Get 25 real-world formulas & examples to check for partial text, multiple words, numbers, & more. Hence, read through the article. 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". Jul 1, 2011 · If a Cell Does Not Contain "text" Return a Value How do I write a formula for if cell a1 does not contain "abc" then return the value "Happy 4th of July" otherwise ""? eg: "dkdkdkdk" should give me the value Happy 4th of July. The result from REGEXTEST is TRUE or FALSE. Thanks! Last edited by Ocean Zhang; 07-01-2011 at 06:03 PM. Using "Does Not Contain" in Excel Advanced Filter allows you to filter out rows based on a specific text or value that you don't want to see in your filtered data. Replace one or more characters in the criteria with a wildcard character. And this formula: = COUNTIF (A1:A100,"???") Counts all cells in A1:A100 that contain exactly 3 characters. You can place these characters within the string that you are searching for, and this alters the filtering behaviour. Jul 15, 2024 · While working in Excel sheets, sometimes you need to use wildcards for many purposes. In simple words, Consider a scenario in which we are required to count the data based on specific criteria in an array. The challenge is that the asterisk (*) is reserved as a wildcard in functions like the SUMIFS function, so you can't match a literal occurrence of this character without using a special syntax. Guide to Wildcard In Excel. 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. How to? Thanks. Changing the <> to a NOT formula also does not seem to affect it. The conditional function like COUNTIF,AND,OR, SEARCH are used here. 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. This function doesn't support wildcards or regular expressions. Master flexible conditional logic Sep 27, 2024 · You can use the COUNTIF function with a wildcard to count the number of cells that contain specific text in a range. We will take a closer look at why some functions use them and others don't later in this post. Please post your discoveries in the comments below for all to share. On the contrary, it is also easy to use the COUNTIF function to count cells that do not contain specific text. Nov 22, 2017 · 3 Excel does not support wildcard statements on all formulas (see supported formulas), but you can achieve similar result, if you build a bit your formula. In cell D1 he enters a string that he wants to search for in column A. Adding further, if you want to look at the entire dataframe and remove those rows which has the specific word (or set of words) just use the loop below 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. Using "Contains" with SUMIFS Let’s consider a practical example. A missing condition (blank) in cells B5:E5 is not used into the calculation, in other words, it is 10 votes, 10 comments. In this guide, we're going to show you how to use Wildcard criteria in Excel formulas. So if one wants to count the number of cells that have * any where in the string we need to use: =COUNTIF(A:A,"*~**") Jan 11, 2022 · But as @Anonymous suggested the wildcard filter are not available directly in power query, maybe we can use it with dax if you can share your pbix or data in excel for me to try. Cells either say "mother", "father", or a number of different options. You can use it to find text that starts with, ends with, or simply contains a specific string. May 29, 2024 · The use of AI tools (e. Thank you, Apr 14, 2025 · Learn how to check if a cell contains any text using Excel formulas like IF, ISTEXT, LEN, and COUNTIF. It’s the most flexible of the bunch, since it can replace any number of characters in your search. Use wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters and when you're searching and replacing content. Jul 4, 2024 · In this article, I’ll show you 2 suitable ways to delete all rows not containing certain text in Excel. Jul 12, 2018 · Learn how to apply text filters with VBA. In the example shown, the formula in E5 is: =COUNTIF(data,"*a*") In this formula, data is the named range B5:B15. Apr 20, 2018 · I used not equal to Callback as the text to check as this will use the asterisk as wildcard characters so will look for Callback anywhere in the text rather than exact text (Callback), at the start (Callback*) or at the end (*Callback). In the example file I've included I want the average of the Value column, but only including rows where the 'Key' doesn't contain the letter b and 'Level' is 1. "I like to sing my abcs" should return a blank cell. The count of cells that match this pattern is returned as a number. Apr 20, 2023 · You can use the Not statement along with the Like statement in VBA to determine if strings do not contain a specific pattern. Read it all along and use in your cases. Elevate your spreadsheet skills with us! Jan 18, 2023 · The goal in this example is to sum Prices in column C when the Items in column B contain an asterisk (*). Nov 22, 2024 · Discover the power of Excel's wildcard search with this guide. contains' didn't work for me but when I tried with '. For example, the % wildcard in SQL matches zero or more . For example, if you have a list of email addresses, and want to extract those that contain "ABC", the Dec 17, 2017 · How do I get this formula to highlight if the cell "does not begin with W" or if the BE range does not contain a W. For the best help attach a sample workbook to your post Attention - ExcelForum Rules have been updated as of August 2023. I dont want to include the rows if certain keywords present in the description column. There are other formulas you can use Wildcards with so feel free to experiment. Sep 11, 2015 · VBA - "does not contain"-filter (excel 2010) [duplicate] Asked 13 years ago Modified 10 years, 2 months ago Viewed 19k times somehow '. Feb 18, 2020 · Patrick2788 Silver Contributor Feb 18, 2020 StuLux23 It doesn't appear wildcards are supported with FILTER (Maybe added at a later date?). The difference is that the SEARCH function supports wildcards but is not case-sensitive, while the FIND function is case-sensitive but does not support wildcards. FIND() will give you a number, telling you where the searched string is located. Limitations and Considerations: While wildcards are powerful, they can slow down calculations in large datasets and may not always behave as expected with certain Excel functions. For example, you can use the following syntax to check if each string in the cell range A2:A10 does not contain the substring “hot” and output the results in the range B2:B10: But if we want to sum a value if the corresponding cell does not contain the criteria value in any combination, with or without any other word, then this can be done using the operator “Not equal to” along with the asterisk wildcard in criteria argument of the SUMIF function. Available wildcards Excel has 3 wildcards you can use in There are three Excel wildcard characters (asterisk, question mark, and tilde) that can get some amazing stuff done in Excel. This can throw off what What are wildcard characters in Excel? Wildcard characters in Excel are special characters that can be used to take the place of characters in a formula. Apr 11, 2025 · 7. Aug 23, 2022 · Unfortunately, Excel’s Filter function does not perform partial-match or wildcard searches. It is an If text contains Xlookup function, or an XLOOKUP (Contains) funct Question mark (?) : This wildcard is used to search for any single character. Jan 6, 2020 · Wildcard represents one or more other characters. Data Validation: Wildcards can ensure that user input matches a specific pattern, and the tilde helps define patterns that include the wildcards themselves. Sep 6, 2013 · One of these conditions is that the cell within the 'criteria' range NOT contain a substring. Nov 12, 2025 · The asterisk (*) is the wildcard character that represents any sequence of characters, including when there are no characters at all. isin' as mentioned by @kenan in the answer (How to drop rows from pandas data frame that contains a particular string in a particular column?) it works. The “*” symbol (the asterisk) is a wildcard in Excel that means “match any number of characters” and “<>” means “does not equal”, so this pattern will count any cell that does not contain “a” in any position. The optional argument comparer can be used to specify case-insensitive or culture and locale-aware comparisons. Nov 28, 2018 · Easily sum cells containing specific text for a partial match in Excel using the SUMIF or SUMIFS function with a wildcard. Feb 12, 2025 · Excel contains two functions designed to check the occurrence of one text string inside another: the SEARCH function and the FIND function. I wish to filter out the following customer numbers---0, 27, 72, 84, 100, 998 and 999---thus leaving all Nov 9, 2012 · I am trying to do an advanced filter by doing a does not contain "xxx". The following is an example: ABSource ValueFormulas in Column BValue Returned In Column… Oct 17, 2023 · A number of 'Excel if cells contains' formula examples show how to return some value in another column if a target cell contains specific text, any text, any number or any value at all (not empty cell), test multiple criteria with OR as well as AND logic. Jul 6, 2024 · We have discussed 5 methods to use the wildcard in IF statement in Excel. Is there a different way of applying a wildcard condition in =SUMIFS for number values in Excel? Mar 22, 2023 · See how to use SUMIF function in Excel to conditionally sum cells. Here, I will show you how to use wildcards in Excel. Aug 30, 2024 · The guide above runs us through the smart use of Excel wildcard characters through practical examples. We also learned to use them together with two important Excel functions. Jan 27, 2022 · This tutorial explains how to use "does not contain" in an Excel advanced filter, including several examples. However, a string in column A may include what COUNTIF considers logical operators (>,<,<>,=) or wildcards (*,?). Apr 5, 2023 · To use select records from a set of data based on a partial match, you can use the FILTER function with the SEARCH function. This technique allows for flexible data manipulation, enabling users to make informed decisions based on complex criteria and patterns. *" returns TRUE for all A wildcard is a special character that lets you perform "fuzzy" matching on text in your Excel formulas. May 24, 2025 · Implementing "Contains" and "Does Not Contain" in SUMIFS Implementing these filters requires the use of wildcard characters in your criteria. Real-life formula examples with all kinds of criteria including dates, text, numbers, wildcards, blanks and non-blanks. Jul 13, 2024 · Learn how to use wildcards with XLOOKUP in Excel for powerful, flexible data searches. My current formula In my spreadsheet, the text in COLUMN E will sometimes contain a * (not a wildcard, the actual "*"… Aug 15, 2024 · In this article, i have demonstrated two methods including Find and Replace & Filter option in excel find * character not wildcard. For more about using wildcard characters with the Find and Replace features in Excel, see Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet. I tried this but it does not work. Feb 23, 2024 · Overview of Wildcards in SQL So what are wildcards, and how do they work in SQL? A wildcard is a special character that represents other characters in search strings. counting cells that do not contain a specific value using wildcards to catch cell value with countif function in excel explained here with an Jun 17, 2025 · The Excel REGEXTEST function tests for the existence of text defined by a given pattern. Jul 29, 2024 · In this article, we have discussed how to use SUMIFS with not equal to text criteria. Jan 17, 2024 · MarcoTorinoi When using multiple "does not" criteria with Advanced Filter, you need to use "And" logic by arranging them horizontally on a single row with the column header ("email") repeated for each one: Advanced Filter Does Not Contain List With the criteria listed vertically in a single column you're using "Or" logic, which returns ALL records because <>"*@gmail. Instead, we can combine the IF function with the COUNTIF function, which does support wildcards. Excel supports wildcard characters in formulas to return values that share the same pattern. This means you can't use IF by itself to test for text that may appear anywhere in a cell. I want to do a countif to tell me which cells contain *, however as * is a wildcard Jan 13, 2009 · I'm trying to create a conditional formatting rule where the cell value does not contain specific text. There will also be solutions covering case sensitivity. Jun 11, 2024 · This article will illustrate the different 9 ways for conditional formatting partial text match in Excel effectively. value like "*text*" what about does not contain. Learn to harness the IF function and wildcard characters for efficient data filtering, enhancing your spreadsheet skills and enabling precise, flexible data analysis. Wildcard Characters With Asterisk A vibrant community of Excel enthusiasts. How can I change this so that column C must have the value Issued, but column do must have anything but the value Wallet? =SUMIFS (F7:F34,C7:C34,"ISSUED",D7:D34,"WALLET") I appreciate any help. Mar 24, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use wildcards in VBA, including several examples. Oct 4, 2023 · Apologies, but I'm not really sure if its even applicable, as these are formulas I'm new to utilizing. Oct 20, 2015 · 3 You can match with wildcards, but the wildcards have to be in your lookup value (first position in the formula). I have a Column (Header = Owner) containing numbers representing customer numbers (1 to 150 plus 998 and 999). Sep 25, 2023 · You may have searched for a FILTER wildcard feature, like with some functions where you can include an asterisk to indicate a wildcard… but for the FILTER function the asterisk does not work as a wildcard, and the formulas in this lesson are the solution you are looking for. Aug 16, 2025 · How do I check if a cell contains any text from a list in Excel? You can use formula =OR (ISNUMBER (SEARCH (list_range, cell))) or COUNTIF function with wildcards to scan for keywords. For example, this formula: = COUNTIF (B5:B11,"*combo") counts all cells in the range B5:B11 that end with the text "combo". Jul 18, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use an IF function with a wildcard in Excel, including an example. Aug 31, 2011 · The tilde wild card allows you to search for words that contain a wild card - either * or ?. Oct 23, 2024 · Utilize Excel's wildcard characters within IF statements to perform powerful text-based calculations. 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. Jul 19, 2016 · Hi Folks, Firstly: all this is for a dynamic table called StockListTable. Mar 26, 2019 · Become an Excel wildcard wizard with our comprehensive guide! Learn how to master wildcard characters in Excel for efficient data analysis. The REGEXTEST function is only available in Excel 365 for now. I have created the measure with the following code: text con Nov 18, 2014 · Microsoft Excel uses the tilde (~) as a marker to indicate that the next character is a literal. We will use Excel Advanced Filters does not contain feature to hide the rows that do not contain specific text. ? (a question mark) represents a single character. Dec 26, 2012 · Hi, Using the wildcards in Excel can be great but . Jun 17, 2022 · SUMIFS a cell does not contain specific text The following sumif will sum if column C has the value Issued and column D has the value Wallet. These rules apply to everyone for the benefit of all, please take a moment now to Learn how to use the COUNTIF function in Excel for partial matching, including wildcard characters, with helpful examples and explanations. Imagine you have the following Apr 9, 2025 · 2. Wildcards Excel functions like SUMIF and SUMIFS support the wildcard characters "?" (any one I search through the forum for wildcards, I figure out how to use wildcards in contains would be . For example, Like R?308021 In this article, we will learn about how to Count cells that do not contain value using COUNTIF function with wildcards in Excel. 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. Examples of wildcard character pattern matching in expressions To use a wildcard character within a pattern: Open your query in Design view. In the coming sections, we'll show you how to use the wildcard characters (the asterisk and question mark) within the COUNTIF function to check if a cell contains certain text. Oct 4, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to count cells that do not contain specific text in Excel, including examples. Jul 3, 2024 · This article discusses three methods for using SUMIFS with a wildcard in Excel, as well as three other options. Excel Wildcard Characters Wildcards are often overlooked as one of the more useful features of Excel. I used containsstring() function to exclude keywords. Excel recognizes two essential wildcard characters: * (an asterisk) represents any number of characters. Tilde (~): This wildcard is an escape character, used preceding the question mark (?) or asterisk mark (*). Feb 25, 2021 · Use the ~ to escape the * and let Excel know you want to search for the literal *: ~* One note: This is the same with formulas that allow wildcards. Dec 2, 2019 · If cell does not contain "text" then return value I am trying to create a formula that says IF column B says "Level 1" or "Level 2" AND column C does not contain either "Apples" or "Bananas" in the text, then to add a result in column A. Nov 11, 2013 · let's say i have a cell in excel with Text, and i have another column of text values. Sep 16, 2025 · Detects whether text contains the value substring. May 16, 2024 · The sample dataset contains the Product Name, Product Category, and the shipping Address of customers. Feb 10, 2025 · To count cells that do not contain certain text, you can use the COUNTIF function with a wildcard. But when I google it wildcards seems to pop up in what others have asked, so I'm not really sure. In advanced filter, I've figured out how to use wildcards and does not contain, but I can't figure out how to do "does not… Jan 15, 2015 · Because to me your question says you want to count all cells that do NOT match the wildcard string rather than count all cells that do not contain the actual ? or * characters. In other words, if the cell value contains the text "my specific text", anywhere in the cell value, I want to pick this up and use the conditional format. I'm trying to set up a conditional format so my cells will be filled if the value includes a specific text string, but I need to use wildcards before and after the specific text string. Aug 18, 2009 · Hello. Includes examples for filtering for multiple items, begins with, contains, wildcards, etc. Jul 31, 2024 · Hi there, I am creating a measure that filters the table based on the 'description' column. g. Asterisk (*): This wildcard is used to find any number of characters preceding or following any character. Service Requested Service Performed seal test1 If the Excel data you want to filter requires complex criteria you can filter by using advaned criteria. I've tried wildcard* and it highlights things that shouldn't be highlight so I'm confused as to why. Wildcard characters are used in a variety of Excel functions ranging from VLOOKUPS to SUMIFS. One solution is a formula that uses the IF function together with the SEARCH and ISNUMBER functions. May 18, 2023 · The IF function doesn't support wildcards directly, so we can't use IF by itself. For example, when using the Find and Replace feature in Excel to 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. This tutorial provides detailed steps to help solving the problem. there's one big catch! If you look at the Help file of Excel it states: You can use wildcard characters, such as an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?), in your search criteria: Use the asterisk to find any string of characters. Cells B4:E4 allow you to include or exclude specific conditions using drop down lists. When you use the Find and Replace dialog box to find or replace a character such as a tilde (~), an asterisk (*), or a question mark (?), you must add a tilde (~) before the character in the Find what box. If a user is believed to have used such tools to provide a forum answer, sanctions may be imposed. chatGPT, BARD, GPT4 etc) to create forum answers is not permitted. Learn more about applying criteria to a query. 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. Note that SUMIFS is not case-sensitive. Here is a simplified example. If they are in the lookup array (second position in the formula) they are not wildcards, just literal * s in the cell values. The result is 5 since five cells in B5:B15 do not contain the letter "a". For example, s*d finds "sad" and "started". Jun 28, 2024 · There are several built-in functions in Excel to create a formula to check if cell contains specific text within it. Dec 16, 2022 · To sum if cells contain specific text, you can use the SUMIFS or SUMIF function with a wildcard. 8. One limitation of the IF function is that it does not support Excel wildcards like "?" and "*". They are employed in Excel formulas for incomplete matches. Ordinal: Used to perform a case-sensitive ordinal Oct 15, 2024 · Learn how to use the XLOOKUP function in Excel when searching for a partial match. Aug 9, 2013 · i will like to check which formula will work by checking the selected cell F2:M2 that does not contain the world Not and show the value of the cell in N2 any suggestion are appreciated. " These filters automatically interpret wildcard characters when you include them in your criteria. However, see below for a case-sensitive option. Nov 13, 2023 · The added touch is, however, having to use a wildcard character to match zero or more characters. Not all functions can execute Wildcards with Excel Dec 28, 2024 · Peter has a worksheet where column A contains semi-random text strings. Includes examples, VBA code, and a downloadable file. In another cell he uses the formula =COUNTIF (A:A,D1) to determine how many times a string occurs within column A. Get expert tips, ask questions, and share your love for all things Excel. But not in all cases. Remember Excel’s wildcard characters? If we use wildcard characters with SUMIF, we can sum values using partial criteria and the good news is Jun 21, 2019 · Hi all, I have column of data that has the * character in some cells. These can also be used in the Conditional Formatting rules that use the "Only format cells that contain specific text" criteria. Master this skill for enhanced data analysis and efficient decision-making. Excel wildcards Excel supports three wildcards that can be used in formulas: Asterisk (*) - zero or more characters Question mark (?) - any one character As soon as I turn it to a wild-card item to try to exclude anything that contains specific text, it stops filtering. In the example shown, the formula in G7 is: =FILTER (Table1,ISNUMBER (SEARCH (H4,Table1 [Last]))* (H4""),"No results") where Table1 is an Excel Table that contains 100 rows of data in B5:E104. Using these characters can increase efficiency and flexibility when searching through text data. Nov 21, 2011 · Hi, dear EXCEL pros: I’ve used asterisk wildcard in formula before and most of the time they worked perfectly well. Solution 1 E. In the Criteria row of the field that you want to use, type the operator Like in front of your criteria. The following built-in comparers are available in the formula language: Comparer. Oct 27, 2014 · Forum Microsoft Office Application Help - Excel Help forum Excel Formulas & Functions [SOLVED] If text does not contain (wildcard), return value of cell The use of AI tools (e. May 30, 2025 · Excel's filtering capabilities support wildcards, particularly useful in text filters with options like "contains," "begins with," and "ends with. idcks ruepsfzqr iofmsh nqwxyeak pzm oqcqv pjgua qbqhko xtyih pfjw iwrntqa infidlk rayrj unxgpap sfccvin