How to Search for Something in Excel (Find, Filter and Formulas)

To search for something in Excel, press Ctrl+F (Command+F on a Mac), type the word or number, and select Find Next to jump to the first match. Select Find All to see a list of every matching cell. To search every sheet, select Options and change Within from Sheet to Workbook.

Applies to: Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016 on Windows and Mac, and Excel for the web. Last reviewed October 8, 2026.

Search with Find (Ctrl+F)

1. Press Ctrl+F, or go to Home > Find & Select > Find.
2. Type what you’re looking for in Find what.
3. Select Find Next. Excel selects the first matching cell. Select it again to move to the next one.
4. Select Find All to list every match at the bottom of the box. Click a row in the list to jump to that cell. Press Ctrl+A in the list to select all the matching cells at once, so you can color or delete them together.

To search only part of the sheet, select that range first. Excel then searches only inside it.

Narrow the search with Options

Select Options >> in the Find box to see:

• Within: Sheet or Workbook. Use Workbook to search every tab.
• Search: By Rows or By Columns, which only changes the order matches are found in.
• Look in: Values finds what you see in the cell. Formulas finds what’s typed in the formula bar. Notes and Comments search those instead.
• Match case: finds “Smith” but not “smith”.
• Match entire cell contents: finds cells that contain only your search term. Searching for 10 then skips 100 and 210.
• Format: finds cells with a particular fill color, font or number format.

Use wildcards for partial matches

• * matches any number of characters. Sm*th finds Smith and Smyth.
• ? matches exactly one character. B?ll finds Ball, Bell and Bill.
• ~ searches for a real * or ?. Type ~* to find an asterisk.

Search with a filter

For a list or table, a filter shows only the matching rows:

1. Click inside the data and press Ctrl+Shift+L to add filter arrows.
2. Click the arrow on the column you want and type in the Search box.
3. Select OK. Rows that don’t match are hidden until you clear the filter.

To build a live list of matches in another place, use the FILTER function in Excel 365, for example =FILTER(A2:C100,ISNUMBER(SEARCH(“smith”,A2:A100))).

Search with a formula

• =ISNUMBER(SEARCH(“red”,A2)) returns TRUE if A2 contains “red” anywhere, ignoring case. See how to use the SEARCH function in Excel.
• =COUNTIF(A:A,”*red*”) counts how many cells contain “red”.
• =XMATCH(“Smith”,A:A) returns the row position of an exact match.

To color every matching cell automatically, use conditional formatting; see how to highlight cells based on text in Excel.

Search and replace

Press Ctrl+H to open the Replace tab, which works the same way with a Replace with box. See how to find and replace in Excel.

Troubleshooting

“We couldn’t find what you were looking for”

• A range is selected, so Excel only searched there. Click a single cell and try again.
• Match entire cell contents or Match case is ticked from an earlier search. Untick them.
• The cell shows a formula result. Change Look in to Values.
• The value is on another sheet. Set Within to Workbook.

Numbers aren’t found

Find searches what’s displayed when Look in is set to Values. If a cell shows $1,250.00, search for 1,250, not 1250, or switch Look in to Formulas.

Matches in hidden rows are skipped

With Look in set to Values, Find skips hidden rows and columns. Unhide them or set Look in to Formulas.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search in Excel on a Mac?

Press Command+F or use the search box at the top right of the sheet. Select the magnifying glass for options like Match case.

Can I search several Excel files at once?

Not from within Excel. Use File Explorer search with the file contents option, or open the files and search each workbook.

What’s the search box at the top of the window?

That’s Microsoft Search. It finds Excel commands, help articles and files rather than cells. Use Ctrl+F to search inside the sheet.

Matt Jacobs

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.