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Sum if cells contain an asterisk in Excel

As we all know, the asterisk is a wildcard in Excel. To sum cells containing an asterisk that is regarded as a literal character not a wildcard, you can apply a formula based on the SUMIF function and the tilde (~).

How to sum if cells contain an asterisk in Excel?

As shown in the screenshot below, to sum sales in the range D5:D12 when the corresponding cell in range C5:C12 contains an asterisk, you can follow the steps below.

Generic Formulas

=SUMIF(range,"*~**",[sum_range])

Arguments

Range: A range of cells which you want to evaluate if it contains an asterisk;
Sum_range: A range of cells that you want to sum.

How to use this formula?

Select a cell to output the result, copy or enter the below formula and press the Enter key.

=SUMIF(C5:C12,"*~**",D5:D12)

Notes: The above formula sums cells no matter where the asterisk is in a cell.

To sum cells whose asterisk is at the end of the cell, you can apply a formula like this:

=SUMIF(C5:C12,"*~*",D5:D12)

To sum cells whose asterisk is at the beginning of the cell, apply the formula below:

=SUMIF(C5:C12,"~**",D5:D12)

Explanation of the formula

=SUMIF(C5:C12,"*~**",D5:D12)

ROW(E5:E14)-ROW(E5)+1:
> "*~**": To prevent Excel from treating asterisks as wildcards, you can add a tilde (~) before an asterisk to mark this asterisk as a literal character. Here the first and the last asterisk is a wildcard which means “one or more characters”; the asterisk after the tilde represents a literal asterisk.
The whole “*~**” means to match all cells containing an asterisk, no matter where the asterisk is in a cell.

Related functions

Excel SUMIF function
The Excel SUMIF function can help to sum cells based on one criterion

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Sum if cells contain or equal to either x or y
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Comments (5)
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Ressa
Ressa
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi Crystal;
I tried it in Microsoft365 and Excel2010.
Thanks
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Ressa
Ressa
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
That is cool. Thank you.
However, I was looking for something else.
I have certain numbers that I have to add in a column that have asterisks.
For example: The column has numbers 8.00, 7.00*, 40.00, 10.00*; which equals, 65.00. The numbers with the asterisks do not add (of course) so the sum = 48.00.
So, is there a way to have the asterisks and have it add them too?
Thanks a bunch!
Ressa
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crystal
crystal     Ressa
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Hi Ressa,
The following array formula can help. Suppose your numbers are in range A2:A6, after entering the formula in a cell, press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys on your keyboad to get the result.
=SUM(IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("*",A2:A6)),SUBSTITUTE(A2:A6,"*","")+0))
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Ressa
Ressa     crystal
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Thank you Crystal,
It always returns zero when I use it.
Does it replace the "*" with nothing?
They want the "*" still there.
I am sure there is no way to have a formula.
Thanks,
Ressa
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crystal
crystal     Ressa
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Hi Ressa,
This formula works well in my case. May I ask which Excel version are you using?
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