- Use Excel built-in functions to find data in a table or a range of cells
- Summary
- Create the Sample Worksheet
- Term Definitions
- Functions
- LOOKUP()
- VLOOKUP()
- INDEX() and MATCH()
- OFFSET() and MATCH()
- Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet
- Replace
- Extract only the numbers of a cell in Excel
- Understand the logic applied
- Step 1: Extract each character from the cell
- Step 2: Test if each character is a number or not
- Step 3: Isolate the numbers
- Step 4: Group the numbers together
- Other solution
Use Excel built-in functions to find data in a table or a range of cells
Summary
This step-by-step article describes how to find data in a table (or range of cells) by using various built-in functions in Microsoft Excel. You can use different formulas to get the same result.
Create the Sample Worksheet
This article uses a sample worksheet to illustrate Excel built-in functions. Consider the example of referencing a name from column A and returning the age of that person from column C. To create this worksheet, enter the following data into a blank Excel worksheet.
You will type the value that you want to find into cell E2. You can type the formula in any blank cell in the same worksheet.
Term Definitions
This article uses the following terms to describe the Excel built-in functions:
The whole lookup table
The value to be found in the first column of Table_Array.
Lookup_Array
-or-
Lookup_Vector
The range of cells that contains possible lookup values.
The column number in Table_Array the matching value should be returned for.
3 (third column in Table_Array)
Result_Array
-or-
Result_Vector
A range that contains only one row or column. It must be the same size as Lookup_Array or Lookup_Vector.
A logical value (TRUE or FALSE). If TRUE or omitted, an approximate match is returned. If FALSE, it will look for an exact match.
This is the reference from which you want to base the offset. Top_Cell must refer to a cell or range of adjacent cells. Otherwise, OFFSET returns the #VALUE! error value.
This is the number of columns, to the left or right, that you want the upper-left cell of the result to refer to. For example, «5» as the Offset_Col argument specifies that the upper-left cell in the reference is five columns to the right of reference. Offset_Col can be positive (which means to the right of the starting reference) or negative (which means to the left of the starting reference).
Functions
LOOKUP()
The LOOKUP function finds a value in a single row or column and matches it with a value in the same position in a different row or column.
The following is an example of LOOKUP formula syntax:
The following formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:
The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in the lookup vector (column A). The formula then matches the value in the same row in the result vector (column C). Because «Mary» is in row 4, LOOKUP returns the value from row 4 in column C (22).
NOTE: The LOOKUP function requires that the table be sorted.
For more information about the LOOKUP function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
VLOOKUP()
The VLOOKUP or Vertical Lookup function is used when data is listed in columns. This function searches for a value in the left-most column and matches it with data in a specified column in the same row. You can use VLOOKUP to find data in a sorted or unsorted table. The following example uses a table with unsorted data.
The following is an example of VLOOKUP formula syntax:
The following formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:
The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in the left-most column (column A). The formula then matches the value in the same row in Column_Index. This example uses «3» as the Column_Index (column C). Because «Mary» is in row 4, VLOOKUP returns the value from row 4 in column C (22).
For more information about the VLOOKUP function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
INDEX() and MATCH()
You can use the INDEX and MATCH functions together to get the same results as using LOOKUP or VLOOKUP.
The following is an example of the syntax that combines INDEX and MATCH to produce the same results as LOOKUP and VLOOKUP in the previous examples:
The following formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:
The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in column A. It then matches the value in the same row in column C. Because «Mary» is in row 4, the formula returns the value from row 4 in column C (22).
NOTE: If none of the cells in Lookup_Array match Lookup_Value («Mary»), this formula will return #N/A.
For more information about the INDEX function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
OFFSET() and MATCH()
You can use the OFFSET and MATCH functions together to produce the same results as the functions in the previous example.
The following is an example of syntax that combines OFFSET and MATCH to produce the same results as LOOKUP and VLOOKUP:
This formula finds Mary’s age in the sample worksheet:
The formula uses the value «Mary» in cell E2 and finds «Mary» in column A. The formula then matches the value in the same row but two columns to the right (column C). Because «Mary» is in column A, the formula returns the value in row 4 in column C (22).
For more information about the OFFSET function, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet
Use the Find and Replace features in Excel to search for something in your workbook, such as a particular number or text string. You can either locate the search item for reference, or you can replace it with something else. You can include wildcard characters such as question marks, tildes, and asterisks, or numbers in your search terms. You can search by rows and columns, search within comments or values, and search within worksheets or entire workbooks.
Tip: You can also use formulas to replace text. Check out the SUBSTITUTE function or REPLACE, REPLACEB functions to learn more.
To find something, press Ctrl+F, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Find.
Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked the Options >> button to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Options hidden.
In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find, or click the arrow in the Find what: box, and then select a recent search item from the list.
Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark ( ?), asterisk ( *), tilde (
) — in your search criteria.
Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».
Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».
) followed by ?, *, or
to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91
Click Find All or Find Next to run your search.
Tip: When you click Find All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be listed, and clicking a specific occurrence in the list will select its cell. You can sort the results of a Find All search by clicking a column heading.
Click Options>> to further define your search if needed:
Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.
Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.
Look in: To search for data with specific details, in the box, click Formulas, Values, Notes, or Comments.
Note: Formulas, Values, Notes and Comments are only available on the Find tab; only Formulas are available on the Replace tab.
Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.
Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.
If you want to search for text or numbers with specific formatting, click Format, and then make your selections in the Find Format dialog box.
Tip: If you want to find cells that just match a specific format, you can delete any criteria in the Find what box, and then select a specific cell format as an example. Click the arrow next to Format, click Choose Format From Cell, and then click the cell that has the formatting that you want to search for.
Replace
To replace text or numbers, press Ctrl+H, or go to Home > Editing > Find & Select > Replace.
Note: In the following example, we’ve clicked the Options >> button to show the entire Find dialog. By default, it will display with Options hidden.
In the Find what: box, type the text or numbers you want to find, or click the arrow in the Find what: box, and then select a recent search item from the list.
Tips: You can use wildcard characters — question mark ( ?), asterisk ( *), tilde (
) — in your search criteria.
Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds «sat» and «set».
Use the asterisk (*) to find any number of characters — for example, s*d finds «sad» and «started».
) followed by ?, *, or
to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91
In the Replace with: box, enter the text or numbers you want to use to replace the search text.
Click Replace All or Replace.
Tip: When you click Replace All, every occurrence of the criteria that you are searching for will be replaced, while Replace will update one occurrence at a time.
Click Options>> to further define your search if needed:
Within: To search for data in a worksheet or in an entire workbook, select Sheet or Workbook.
Search: You can choose to search either By Rows (default), or By Columns.
Look in: To search for data with specific details, in the box, click Formulas, Values, Notes, or Comments.
Note: Formulas, Values, Notes and Comments are only available on the Find tab; only Formulas are available on the Replace tab.
Match case — Check this if you want to search for case-sensitive data.
Match entire cell contents — Check this if you want to search for cells that contain just the characters that you typed in the Find what: box.
If you want to search for text or numbers with specific formatting, click Format, and then make your selections in the Find Format dialog box.
Tip: If you want to find cells that just match a specific format, you can delete any criteria in the Find what box, and then select a specific cell format as an example. Click the arrow next to Format, click Choose Format From Cell, and then click the cell that has the formatting that you want to search for.
There are two distinct methods for finding or replacing text or numbers on the Mac. The first is to use the Find & Replace dialog. The second is to use the Search bar in the ribbon.
Extract only the numbers of a cell in Excel
This article will explain you how to extract the numbers from a cell containing numbers and letters.
To do that, we will use the new functions of Excel 365 ; FILTER and SEQUENCE
Understand the logic applied
To be able to extract the numbers and letters from the same cell, we have no choice ; extract each single character into the cell.
- This task is now possible with the new SEQUENCE function and the MID function .
- Next, we will perform a test to find out if each one of these characters is a number or not.
- Finally, when the test is true. So we just keep the numbers.
Step 1: Extract each character from the cell
The SEQUENCE function generates a series of number between 2 values. For instance to create a series of number between 1 and 5 in column, you will write
The trick here, is to use the SEQUENCE function to split each character of the cells with this formula with the MID function. Also, the LEN function will return the exact number of characters in each cells.
Step 2: Test if each character is a number or not
Then we need to perform a test on each one of these characters to find out if it’s a number or not.
So of course here, using the ISNUMBERfunction seems logical. However, at this stage, each of the cells contains text 😕🤨
We can easily correct this with the function VALUE. VALUE will automatically convert a character to a number if needed.
To highlight the cells when the result is true, I have used the following conditional formatting rule
Step 3: Isolate the numbers
Now, to group only the numbers (when the test is TRUE), we use the FILTER function.
The first argument of the FILTER function is the first formula we have build on step 1
The second argument is the test build on the step 2
Step 4: Group the numbers together
This is the last step 😀 We just have to group the previous result with the TEXTJOIN function.
Other solution
Rick Rothsein, another Microsoft Excel MVP, has another approach to solve this problem.
The formula he proposes is this one
He reused the technique to combine MID, SEQUENCE and LEN but instead of using the FILTER function, he just do a calculation with 0. So, when it’s letter + 0, it’s an error. When it’s 0 + number, the formula returns a number. This is why he used IFERROR to keep only the numbers (clever 😉)
Thanks a lot Rick for sharing your formula 👏👏👏