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How to check or find if cell contains specific string/text/word in Excel?

Author: Kelly Last Modified: 2024-08-09

If there are a number of cells in a range, and you need to check if there are cells containing specific text or string, how will you deal with it? And what if finding if cells containing specific text/string in the range? In this article, I will introduce several methods to get them done in Excel.

Find if cell contains specific text with Find and Replace command

Find if cell contains specific text with Filter command

Find if cell contains specific text with Kutools for Excel


Find if cell contains specific text with Find and Replace command

Maybe the most common way to find cells is with the Find and Replace command.

Step 1: Select the range you will find if cells contain specific text.

Step 2: Click the Home > Find & Select > Find, or just press the Ctrl + F keys in a meanwhile.

click Find to go to the Find and Replace dialog box

Step 3: In the coming Find and Replace dialog box, enter the specific text into the Find what box, and click the Find All button.

nter the specific text, and click the Find All button

Then you will find out cells which contain the specific text in the searching results at the bottom of Find and Replace dialog box.



Find if cell contains specific text with Filter command

If your data is in a list, you can find out the cells with specific text with the Filter command in Excel.

Step 1: Select the column where you will find if cells contain specific text.

Step 2: Click the Data > Filter.

click Filter under the Data tab

Step 3: Then click the arrow at the right side of first cell of selected column, and then click the Text Filters > Contains in the drop down list.

set the criteria in Filter feature

Step 4: In the opening Custom AutoFilter dialog box, enter the specific text into the box behind the contains box, and click the OK button.

enter the specific text into the Custom AutoFilter dialog box

Then all cells containing specific text are filtered out immediately.

Note: This method work well if your data is in one column.


Find if cell contains specific text with Kutools for Excel

If you have Kutools for Excel installed, you can apply its Select Specific Cells feature to find if cells contains specific text easily in Excel.

Kutools for Excel - Packed with over 300 essential tools for Excel. Enjoy permanently free AI features! Download now!

Step 1: Select the range you will find if cells contain specific text.

Step 2: Click the Kutools > Select > Select Specific Cells.

go to Select Specific Cells feature and set criteria

Step 3: In the popping up Select Specific Cells dialog box (see screenshot above),

(1) Check the Cell option in the Selection type section,

(2) In the Specific type section click the first box and select Contains from the drop down list, then enter the specific text into the second box;

(3) Click the Ok button.

Now a dialog box comes out and tells you how many cells are found and will be selected. Just click the OK button to exit it.

a dialog box comes out and tells you how many cells are found

At present all cells containing specific text are selected in the selected range.

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