# How to Find and Search in Excel (Step by Step)

If you want to know how to find in Excel, the fastest route is Ctrl+F. That opens the Find and Replace box, where you type what you are looking for and Excel jumps to the first match. For anything more complex, such as partial matches or case-sensitive searches, you combine Find with wildcards or use the SEARCH function in a formula.

## Quick Answer

- Press Ctrl+F to open Find, type your search term in the **Find what** box, and click **Find All** to list every match with its cell reference [1].
- Use **?** for any single character and **\*** for any number of characters, for example `s?t` finds "sat" and "set" [1].
- Turn on **Match case** for case-sensitive searches and **Match entire cell contents** to find cells that hold only your typed text [1].
- Use `SEARCH(find_text,within_text,[start_num])` in a formula to return the character position of a substring, and it is not case sensitive [2].
- If SEARCH returns an error, wrap it in `ISNUMBER` to get Yes or No, or in `IFERROR` to get a blank.

## Before You Start

Decide what you are actually searching for, because Excel treats text, numbers, and formulas differently.

- **Values and text.** Ctrl+F searches cell formulas by default, because **Look in** starts at Formulas. For a formula cell that means it matches the formula text, not the displayed result, so set **Look in** to Values when you want to search what the cells show.
- **Formulas.** To search formula text itself, open the full Find dialog with **Search Options** and set **Look in** to Formulas. The default is Formulas in the standard Find dialog, so check this setting if results look wrong [1].
- **Scope.** Choose **Search in Sheet** or **Search in Workbook** from the magnifying glass menu when you need to cover every tab [1].
- **Case and whole-cell matching.** Both options live under Search Options and change what counts as a match [1].

If your data has repeated entries you may be hunting duplicates instead of single values, which is a different task covered in [how to find duplicates in Excel](/blog/data-analysis/find-duplicates-in-excel).

## Step by Step

1. **Open Find.** Press Ctrl+F, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Find [1].
2. **Type your term.** In the **Find what** box, enter the text or numbers you want to find [1].
3. **Expand the options.** Select the magnifying glass and choose **Search in Sheet** or **Search in Workbook**, or select **Advanced** to open the full Find dialog [1].
4. **Set matching rules.** Check **Match case** for case-sensitive data and **Match entire cell contents** to require an exact full-cell match [1].
5. **Add wildcards if needed.** Use **?** for one character, **\*** for any number of characters, and **~** before ?, \*, or ~ to search for those literal characters, so `fy91~?` finds "fy91?" [1].
6. **Run the search.** Select **Find All** to list every occurrence with its location, or **Find Next** to step through matches one at a time [1].
7. **Stop a long search.** Press ESC to cancel a search in progress [1].
8. **Replace instead of find.** Press Ctrl+H to open Find and Replace when you want to swap the matched text for something else.

## Worked Example

This is a 10-row product sheet with names in column A, prices in column B, a check column in C, and a position column in D. Column C uses `ISNUMBER(SEARCH(...))` to flag names containing "Widget", and column D uses `IFERROR(SEARCH(...))` to report where "Widget" starts.

| | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **1** | Product | Price | Contains Widget? | Widget Position |
| **2** | Widget A | 10.5 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A2)),"Yes","No")` -> displays Yes | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A2),"")` -> displays 1 |
| **3** | Gadget B | 22 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A3)),"Yes","No")` -> displays No | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A3),"")` -> displays |
| **4** | Widget C | 15.75 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A4)),"Yes","No")` -> displays Yes | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A4),"")` -> displays 1 |
| **5** | Super Widget | 30 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A5)),"Yes","No")` -> displays Yes | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A5),"")` -> displays 7 |
| **6** | Gizmo | 8.99 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A6)),"Yes","No")` -> displays No | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A6),"")` -> displays |
| **7** | Widget D | 12.25 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A7)),"Yes","No")` -> displays Yes | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A7),"")` -> displays 1 |
| **8** | Thingamajig | 5.5 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A8)),"Yes","No")` -> displays No | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A8),"")` -> displays |
| **9** | Widget E | 18 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A9)),"Yes","No")` -> displays Yes | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A9),"")` -> displays 1 |
| **10** | Doohickey | 7.25 | `=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Widget",A10)),"Yes","No")` -> displays No | `=IFERROR(SEARCH("Widget",A10),"")` -> displays |

Cell C2 checks whether "Widget" appears anywhere in A2 and returns Yes or No. Cell D2 returns the character position of "Widget" in A2, or a blank when it is absent. Row 5 shows the difference clearly: "Super Widget" starts with "Super", so SEARCH returns 7, the position where "Widget" begins.

The formula signature is:

$$\text{SEARCH(find\_text, within\_text, [start\_num])}$$

The `start_num` argument is optional and tells SEARCH which character to begin at [2]. With the string "AYF0093.YoungMensApparel", setting `start_num` to 8 skips the serial number portion and returns 9, the position of the first "Y" in the descriptive part [2]. SEARCH always counts from the start of `within_text`, including any characters you skipped [2].

To run the interface search on this sheet, press Ctrl+F, type Widget, and click **Find All** to list every matching cell and its row number. Press Ctrl+H when you want to replace text instead.

## Other Ways to Do It

**Go To Special.** Home > Editing > Find & Select > Go To Special jumps to cells by type, such as blanks, constants, or formulas, without typing a search term.

**Filtering.** When you want to see only rows containing a value, filtering hides the rest instead of highlighting matches. See [how to filter in Excel](/blog/data-analysis/how-to-filter-in-excel) for the steps.

**FIND versus SEARCH.** FIND is case sensitive and SEARCH is not [2]. If case matters in your formula, use FIND. The differences are compared in [Excel FIND Function: Syntax, Examples and SEARCH Comparison](/blog/data-analysis/excel-find-function-syntax-examples).

**Sorting to group matches.** Sorting brings identical values together so you can scan them visually. [How to alphabetize in Excel](/blog/data-analysis/how-to-alphabetize-in-excel) covers the sort steps.

## Troubleshooting

**Find returns nothing when the text is clearly there.** Check **Match entire cell contents**. If it is on, only cells holding exactly your typed string match [1].

**The search misses differently cased text.** Turn off **Match case** unless you need case sensitivity [1].

**You cannot find a formula.** Set **Look in** to Formulas in the full Find dialog, because the default view may be searching values instead.

**A wildcard search returns odd results.** A literal question mark or asterisk in your data is being treated as a wildcard. Put **~** before it, so `fy91~?` finds "fy91?" [1].

**SEARCH returns #VALUE!.** The substring was not found in the target text. Wrap the formula in `IFERROR` to show a blank or a message instead.

**The search is taking too long.** Press ESC to cancel it [1].

## Common Mistakes

- **Leaving Match entire cell contents on.** It silently blocks partial matches. Turn it off unless you need exact full-cell hits [1].
- **Forgetting that SEARCH is case insensitive.** "widget" and "WIDGET" both match. Use FIND when case must be respected [2].
- **Typing a wildcard when you mean a literal character.** Escape it with **~** so Excel searches for the actual symbol [1].
- **Searching only the active sheet.** Switch to **Search in Workbook** when the value could be on another tab [1].
- **Reading a SEARCH error as a zero.** #VALUE! means not found, not position zero. Handle it with `IFERROR` or `ISNUMBER`.
- **Assuming Find searches formulas.** It searches what you tell it to search through **Look in**, so verify that setting first.

## Limitations

Ctrl+F finds text and values, but it does not evaluate logic. It cannot tell you which rows meet a condition, count matches, or return a value from a matching row. For those jobs you need formulas such as SEARCH, or tools like filters and lookup functions.

SEARCH itself has boundaries. It returns the position of the first occurrence only, so repeated instances of a substring need `start_num` to step past the first one [2]. It also returns #VALUE! rather than a number when the text is absent, which breaks downstream calculations unless you guard it. And because it is case insensitive, it cannot distinguish "Widget" from "widget" [2].

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do I search for text in Excel?

Press Ctrl+F, type your term in the **Find what** box, and click **Find All** to see every match with its location [1]. Expand Search Options to control case, whole-cell matching, and whether Excel searches the sheet or the whole workbook [1].

### How do I find a value in a specific column?

Select the column first by clicking its header, then run Ctrl+F. When more than one cell is selected, Find searches only the selection. For a permanent view of matching rows, apply a filter instead.

### Why does Ctrl+F not find my text?

The usual causes are **Match entire cell contents** being on, **Match case** being on when the case differs, or the search scope being limited to one sheet [1]. Check all three in Search Options before assuming the text is missing.

### What is the difference between FIND and SEARCH in Excel?

SEARCH is not case sensitive, while FIND is [2]. Both return the starting position of one text string inside another, and both accept an optional `start_num` argument to skip characters [2]. Choose FIND when case matters and SEARCH when it does not.

### Can I search for formulas instead of values?

Yes. Open the full Find dialog through **Advanced**, then set **Look in** to Formulas. That searches the formula text rather than the displayed result, which is what you want when tracking down a specific function or reference.

## References

1. [Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet | Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/get-started/find-or-replace-text-and-numbers-on-a-worksheet)
2. [SEARCH function | Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/functions/search-function)

## Further Reading

- [Broman KW, Woo KH (2018). Data Organization in Spreadsheets. The American Statistician](https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2017.1375989)
- [Ziemann M, Eren Y, El-Osta A (2016). Gene name errors are widespread in the scientific literature. Genome Biology](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-016-1044-7)
- [Microsoft Support: Excel help and learning](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel)
- [McCullough B, Heiser DA (2008). On the accuracy of statistical procedures in Microsoft Excel 2007. Computational Statistics & Data Analysis](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csda.2008.03.004)

## Related Articles

- [How to Find Duplicates in Excel (Step by Step)](/blog/data-analysis/find-duplicates-in-excel)
- [How to Filter in Excel (Step by Step)](/blog/data-analysis/how-to-filter-in-excel)
- [How to Find Percentage in Excel (Step by Step)](/blog/data-analysis/how-to-find-percentage-in-excel)
- [How to Calculate the Mean in Excel (Step by Step)](/blog/data-analysis/how-to-calculate-mean-in-excel)
- [How to Analyse Data in Excel: Step by Step](/blog/data-analysis/analyse-data-in-excel-step-by-step)