Can we use wildcards in excel filters. It gives a lot of control as compared regular filter.

Can we use wildcards in excel filters In the example shown, the formula in G7 is: =FILTER (Table1,ISNUMBER (SEARCH (H4,Table1 [Last]))* (H4""),"No results") where Table1 is an Excel Table that contains 100 rows of data in B5:E104. How can I put a range like this in both Planning Filter App and Excel add-in Filter? I can see only 'equal to' and 'not equal to' available. May 30, 2025 · Excel's filtering capabilities support wildcards, particularly useful in text filters with options like "contains," "begins with," and "ends with. StartsWith() or Text. Go to the Data tab and click Advanced. Let's start with finding 'Red' in the Product column. EndWith() to locate the string. FILTER is a power dynamic array function which you need to know. In Excel, wildcards are most commonly used in formulas, filtering features, and lookup functions There are three Excel wildcard characters (asterisk, question mark, and tilde) that can get some amazing stuff done in Excel. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Data Validation:Employ wildcards to set up data validation rules for cells or ranges. Excel spreadsheets can contain up to 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns, while each cell can contain as many as 32,767 characters. Data sample: Split column by “space”: Split three columns by number of characters. Furthermore, how to use wildcards to facilitate the selections? May 27, 2020 · In this blog, we would learn what are the wildcard characters and how can you use the wildcard characters in Excel to filter your data or do a partial Vlookup and many more exciting things. May 12, 2025 · Wildcards in Microsoft Excel let you search for partial matches, broaden your filters, and create formulas that reference cells containing certain strings. First of all, we have to remember that an asterisk replaces any text string, even an empty one. Aug 30, 2024 · The guide above runs us through the smart use of Excel wildcard characters through practical examples. They have a wide range of use cases, especially when dealing with filtering records in SQL databases. Wildcard characters such as the asterisk “ * “, question mark “? ” and tilde “ ~ ” can greatly extend searching, counting, and additional functionality of functions such as AVERAGEIF, SUMIF, COUNTIF, Excel database functions, and others. If you want to split the column, here is my solution. Finding information in spreadsheets is now easier than ever! Understanding the Advanced Filter dialog box and its functions Choose the cells you want to filter. Oct 6, 2022 · Hi , The wildcard filter is not directly available in Power Query. In this article, I will explore the various ways to use wildcards in Excel. You will learn what wildcards are, how to use them effectively in various Excel functions, best practices, and troubleshooting tips to enhance your productivity. Aug 7, 2025 · Lost in Excel? Struggling to find answers? You don’t need to spend hours anymore! Learn how to utilize advanced filtering in excel to quickly find the data you need. Excel Wildcard Symbols A wildcard is a special character that can be substituted for characters when filtering or looking up data. Final output: You w Sep 30, 2023 · In the world of Microsoft Excel, one of the most powerful tools at your disposal is the wildcard. Why do we use wildcards in Excel? When searching and replacing content or using conditional formatting rules, utilize wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters that use the "Format cells that contain specific text" criteria. Guide to Wildcard In Excel. 🚀 Unlock hidden Excel tricks and hacks, and become a time-saving Excel pro 👉 excel Jun 4, 2025 · However, you can work around this limitation by combining the FILTER function with the SEARCH function like this: = FILTER (range, ISNUMBER (SEARCH ("substring", range))) The SEARCH function automatically performs a substring search and supports wildcards directly if you need more flexibility. This comprehensive guide aims to demystify wildcards in Excel for beginners, intermediate users, and advanced users alike. They serve as placeholders for unknown characters or sequences of characters in cells, making it easier to filter, search, or manipulate data dynamically. I want to create a new list filtered specifically for an individual sponsor so I have tried: =FILTER (D:D,V:V="*Sponsor 1") May 9, 2023 · How to Search for Wildcards in Excel: Searching for wildcards in Excel is easy by using the Find and Replace tool. This used when we need to match * or ? chars. Jul 20, 2020 · I would like to use the Filter function with wildcards, as shown below. You can use the row label filter and enter the text with wildcards to get the desired result. Jan 11, 2022 · But as @Anonymous suggested the wildcard filter are not available directly in power query, maybe we can use it with dax if you can share your pbix or data in excel for me to try. Feb 18, 2020 · Can I use wildcards with the new FILTER function I want to be able to filter a list that contains cells with lengthy text strings in them such as "12:15 to 12:35 Meeting with (Sponsor 1) at table (2) (Delegate Request)". With a bit of creativity, you will learn in this article how to perform “Begins With”, “Ends With”, “Contains”, and “Does Not Contain” search criteria, so that you can carry out more complex filtering with your dynamic array formulas. This can help in finding and replacing text quickly and efficiently in large datasets. Use wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters and when you're searching and replacing content. Here we discuss how to use the three types of wildcards with examples and downloadable excel template. Wildcards are special characters that allow you to perform “fuzzy” matching on text in your formulas. They’re your go-tos for dealing with partial matches or when the complete data entry isn’t known, great for tasks like finding a string within a larger text or creating dynamic formulas that adjust to varying content. We use wildcards in Excel to search, filter, and manipulate data with flexible criteria. May 9, 2023 · There are several types of filters available in Excel, such as filter by selection, filter by condition (custom filter), filter by color/icon, and filter by dates, with each offering different ways to sort and manipulate data. Feb 22, 2023 · Excel's FILTER function sieves a set of data based on defined criteria. However, it doesn't allow the use of wildcards for partial matches. Nov 11, 2025 · In this article, you will learn how to use Advanced Filter with Wildcard in Excel with 3 easy examples including Asterisk, Tilde symbol. Advanced filters can be used for more complex filtering, such as filtering unique values or using wildcards. This is achieved by inserting two other functions (ISNUMBE Nov 22, 2019 · Excel wildcards can be used to replace any character in Excel and allow the user to perform advanced searches and matching. In this guide, we're going to show you how to use Excel Wildcard characters for setting up formula criteria. We will learn how to perform partial matches and search for specific patterns within a dataset. " These filters automatically interpret wildcard characters when you include them in your criteria. But what happens when you’re in the Power Query M environment? Can you still use the flexibility of wildcards? Unfortunately, Power Query M doesn’t natively support wildcards. Here are some examples. Nov 20, 2022 · We have successfully explained how to use wildcards in the FILTER function in Excel. Wildcards are characters that allow you to make more robust functions, searches, and filters in Excel. Jan 7, 2019 · Excel wildcard characters Three Microsoft Excel wildcard characters are available for filtering: ? for one character, * for zero or more characters, and ~ to escape a wildcard. Oct 3, 2019 · Try the following as your criteria: ="=*-1" This would work because we can mix up a wildcard with these logical operators as described as below to check for an exact match: Excel offers nearly 20 worksheet functions that support the ability to use wildcards in their arguments to filter results. Aug 1, 2024 · Discover the power of wildcards in Excel! Our comprehensive guide covers how to use them to enhance your data searches and streamline your spreadsheet tasks. You can use them to find and replace text, match patterns, and more. If you’re an Excel user, you’ve probably heard of wildcards. In this article, you will learn how to use Wildcard in Microsoft Excel. This video shows how we can use wildcards (partial matches) with the XLOOKUP and FILTER functions. A tilde disables a wildcard. The wildcard is a character or symbol that represents one or more unknown characters, allowing for flexible and dynamic data manipulation. Sections: Wildcards Question Mark Example Asterisk Example Tilde Example Referencing Can I Use Wildcards In Excel Filters? In this informative video, we'll cover the use of wildcards in Excel filters and how they can enhance your data filteri In this video, we will explore how to effectively use the FILTER function in Excel, along with wildcards, to filter data with formulas. Mar 14, 2023 · The tutorial shows how to make Excel IF statement with wildcard text and get it to work for partial matches. We compare three methods and show start or end matching your lists actually need. These can also be used in the Conditional Formatting rules that use the "Only format cells that contain specific text" criteria. I have viewed this question (although it pertains to Google Sheets) and tried it but I failed. Feb 16, 2021 · Hi The environment is SAPIBP2011. Video Aug 19, 2025 · Learn how to use Excel's Advanced Filter with multiple criteria using AND, OR, wildcards, custom formulas, and even VBA techniques. You can use Text. Wildcards can be used in searching, filtering, or performing calculations. Discover how to use wildcards in Excel to find and analyze data with partial information. These can be used either in criterias or in the filter options to filter directly using wildcard. Wildcard is very useful in excel and can make your work very easy. Unlock new efficiency and precision in your spreadsheet tasks today. Sep 4, 2021 · With wildcards in Excel, you can narrow down your search in spreadsheets. 3K subscribers Subscribe Jan 27, 2023 · This post shows how to use and master the FILTER function in Excel. Aug 23, 2022 · Unfortunately, Excel’s Filter function does not perform partial-match or wildcard searches. ‍ Filtering and Searching: Use wildcards to filter and search for specific patterns within text values or strings. Nov 21, 2023 · The objective of this tutorial is to show how to use wildcards with the XLOOKUP and FILTER functions in Excel. Apr 18, 2020 · This video shows an example of the FILTER Function in Excel with a "wildcard" or "partial" match. The asterisk (*) matches any number of characters, while the question mark (?) matches a single character. In the dialog box that Learn how to set up dynamic filters in Excel using the FILTER function and wildcards to return partial matches in real-time. Wildcards in Microsoft Excel let you search for partial matches, broaden your filters, and create formulas that reference cells containing certain strings. What Are Wildcards? Wildcards are special characters that allow users to perform searches and other operations with a level of flexibility. Tilde ( ~ ): This wildcard is an escape character, used preceding the question mark (?) or asterisk mark (*). Mar 14, 2023 · Everything you need to know about wildcards: what wildcard characters Excel recognizes, and how to best use them with built-in features and in formulas with text and numbers. Jun 22, 2025 · Wildcard in Excel – Full Guide with Examples for Beginners to Experts Learn how to use wildcard in Excel like a pro. Here's how to use these characters in filters, searches, and formulas. Users can also use wildcards in conjunction with filters to get more specific search results. Example : Jan 6, 2020 · You can use wildcards for filtering, searching, or inside the formulas. Oct 6, 2022 · This tutorial explains how to use wildcard characters in an Excel FILTER function, including examples. We have product ID's like A0001, A0002 A1000 and in in a planning filter range A0100-A0200 is expected. If not, it’s still a pretty good video Aug 8, 2025 · They can be used to search for variations of a word, typos, or even unknown characters. Benefits of using Wildcards in Excel: Utilizing wildcards can lead to time-saving and efficiency in searching for data. So let Jan 6, 2022 · Download the example workbook This tutorial will demonstrate how to use wildcard characters in Excel and Google Sheets. A question mark replaces any single character. Feb 20, 2023 · FILTER function with wildcards / partial text strings in Excel | Excel On The Go Excel Off The Grid 58. Mar 26, 2019 · To use wildcards in Excel filters, simply type the wildcard character along with your search term in the filter field. Pivot Table allows you to filter by text wildcard characters and make your filtering dynamic. 6 days ago · Speed up Excel cleanup with smarter wildcards. Workbooks – the total collection Excel Advanced Filter can be used to extract a list from a data base with predefined criteria. Explore symbols like *, ?, and ~ with real-world use cases in COUNTIF, VLOOKUP, SEARCH, and more. We also learned to use them together with two important Excel functions. Jul 15, 2024 · In this article, we will demonstrate how to use wildcards in Excel. Here a guide to using them. To do that, we have Feb 23, 2024 · Wildcards are characters that help you easily filter specific texts. How to Use Wildcards in Excel. Apr 23, 2015 · Is there a way to use an Excel auto filter, whereby you set a predefined list of values to filter by, and it will return all the cells in a column that contain that phrase? For example imagine the Apr 5, 2023 · To use select records from a set of data based on a partial match, you can use the FILTER function with the SEARCH function. They represent non-specified characters By using wildcards in combination with Excel's filtering functionality, users can quickly and easily display only the data that meets specific criteria. Let's understand how to use them with functions or with filter tool to filter results. Using wildcards for efficient text search in Excel: Wildcards can be used to search for specific patterns of text in Excel. How can i make it work? Jul 24, 2023 · Today, we want to learn how wildcards work with advanced filters. Now you can apply this learning to your work whenever you need to use wildcard characters together with the FILTER function. . You put wildcards in functions, usually in the criteria argument, and this allows you to find partial matches for words, numbers, and characters. For example, you can use wildcards to filter and retrieve data that starts with a specific letter or contains a particular sequence of characters. Excel is an incredibly powerful tool, but its true magic lies in its flexibility. In this section, we’ll cover the available wildcards, for example, wildcard usage and functions that support wildcards. For more about using wildcard characters with the Find and Replace features in Excel, see Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet. This can be particularly useful when working with large datasets and wanting to focus on specific subsets of information. Practice Excel Wildcards here! Aug 4, 2021 · Are you wanting to get more out of the FILTER function? Do you want to take your filtering game to the next level? If so, then this is the video for you. They represent non-specified characters to help you locate text values with "fuzzy" matches. There will also be solutions covering case sensitivity. They can be used directly in the quick filter and auto filter, in the extended search, including for a search and replace, and also in the formulas. Wildcards are used to make more sophisticated partial matches. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck Jan 19, 2015 · Excel's custom AutoFilter allows you to use wildcards in your search enabling filtering for specific characters. They are useful when working with data sets with similar, but not identical data. It gives a lot of control as compared regular filter. If you're looking for Excel tips and tricks, you're in the Learn how to use Excel filters with wildcards to find partial matches in data, making it easy to search dynamically with the ISNUMBER and SEARCH functions.