Excel asterisk wildcard not working reddit. The workaround is to use SEARCH and ISNUMBER.
Excel asterisk wildcard not working reddit 21 votes, 12 comments. You cannot use the wildcard characters *, ! in a logical test. The ~ character will nullify the wildcard effect of the * or ? within a text search (ctrl+H) Example ~*ink or ~?ink will only find those exact values (*ink and ?ink) and not pink for example. now I want to count only the cells that have some values associated with them, instead of counting all non-blank cells (which include cells with formulas and no value) First, I use this formula COUNTA (R:R) and the result basically Mar 14, 2023 · The tutorial shows how to make Excel IF statement with wildcard text and get it to work for partial matches. I want to use asterisk wildcards for a partial search (e. "*Steve*"), but I also don't want to add asterisks to the beginning and end of each name in the name list. and I want to replace all of these to be *1. So, to cancel out the question mark (eg: to successfully find a question mark), use ~?, and to cancel out an asterisk, use ~*. Because the asterisk is a powerful "wildcard" in Excel, searching for it directly doesn't work the way you might expect. The use of AI tools (e. The table it is linking to is as follows C 7 B 8 A 9 A* 10 It all pulls through fine, it gives me 7 if one column contains There are three Excel wildcard characters (asterisk, question mark, and tilde) that can get some amazing stuff done in Excel. In this guide, we're going to show you how to use Wildcard criteria in Excel formulas. if I use a wildcard directly or calling it as a cell, the formula counts 'all' because of the asterisk I have a formula… The range contains entries which in turn contain multiple things, so I need to use wildcards. g. For example, searching for "te*er*" returns things like " te chfool er y", " te ach er ", and " Te rraV er se". Jul 3, 2024 · This article discusses three methods for using SUMIFS with a wildcard in Excel, as well as three other options. Here's a simple example of my formula that resides in {Column B}: =IF (A2="*McCaleb",TRUE,FALSE) Here's my array: {Column A} {Column B} Justin McCaleb FALSE Daniel McCaleb FALSE Tori McCaleb FALSE Jeff McCaleb FALSE Renee McCaleb FALSE Aug 30, 2024 · An asterisk with an “e” tells the Excel filter to show every value with an “e” at the end. Asterisk (*): This wildcard is used to find any number of characters preceding or following any character. They are incredibly useful for finding, filtering, or matching data when you only have a partial match. The following is an example: ABSource ValueFormulas in Column BValue Returned In Column… Jun 14, 2016 · The way Excel implements the * wildcard is fundamentally wrong, in my opinion. For example old data in row 10 starting with ABC123 4 while new data in row 1000 starting with ABC123 5. Jun 23, 2024 · Also, your VLOOKUP() function is not working because, the lookup value you have is a string of words while the keywords is one single word here. Some of my cells contains asterisks and I would like to remove them in power query. I have tried to find (and replace) by using the tilda-asterisk like in normal sheet, however, it doesn't work in power query. A vibrant community of Excel enthusiasts. So it is very possible, that someone will add a new row - and you will not notice it. Example Wildcard Usage Oct 21, 2025 · Wildcards in Excel are special characters that can stand in for other characters in a text string. Read this guide to learn the techniques to search for asterisk in Excel. Mar 17, 2014 · I am building an excel report that uses a couple of data validation filters and formulas that reference them. Nov 5, 2014 · I am doing a vlookup. Question mark (?) : This wildcard is used to search for any single character. Use the TEXT () function to convert numbers before applying wildcard operations for consistent results. It works at the beginning, middle, or end of words. chatGPT, BARD, GPT4 etc) to create forum answers is not permitted. Think of them as “jokers” you can use in your formulas. This is what I'm typing into H33: =CountIf (D2:H34,"*") but the value returned is the total number of cells in this range with data (9), I want to return only the cells with an asterisk (3). Those cells are controlled by cells on a dashboard tab. Note that wildcards only work with text, not numbers. Microsoft Excel is the most popular spreadsheet app for database creation, data analysis Jul 6, 2024 · We have discussed 5 methods to use the wildcard in IF statement in Excel. To circumvent it, in the lookup value of your VLOOKUP, you'll want to preceed every "*" with a "~" like in this screenshot. Learn how to use wildcard characters in Excel to save time when working with formulas. Jun 21, 2019 · Put a tilde character in front of the asterisk (that is not to be considered a wildcard). Jun 30, 2010 · An * is a wildcard which is used on strings and strings alone (not numbers). This guide will walk you through exactly how to find, count, and filter for literal asterisks in your spreadsheets. Sorry about that, I am working with my work laptop and doesn’t permit reddit access, so had to resort to screenshots. One such character is the asterisk (*) and it can make data analysis challenging. Feb 28, 2003 · Conditional formatting does not support wildcards. Using the asterisk "*" seems to work fine for searching for subreddits. Given there are no strings in A1:A4 setting a criteria of * means there are no valid values in A1:A4 hence zero final result. Nevertheless, the incorporation of a very simple UDF (user-defined function) in your workbook will enable you to use wild cards in Conditional formats, as well as other places. I'm not sure how to format the function so that is uses cell reference that is more specific, but not so specific that I use a Sep 21, 2024 · Based on your description, if you convert dates from Data format to Text format (Such as using =TEXT(A1,"mm/dd/yyyy") to convert), then your formula will work. So, to count the number of cells with an asterisk either by itself or embedded within other text, use this (or course, change the range as needed) Jan 9, 2005 · Wildcard Not Working in IF statement I'm having trouble getting the "*" wildcard to work in my IF statement. Mar 26, 2019 · Become an Excel wildcard wizard with our comprehensive guide! Learn how to master wildcard characters in Excel for efficient data analysis. I can't understand the function this asterisk is exercising here. Jun 12, 2007 · A lot of cells that have *12, *11, *10, etc. Mar 25, 2022 · How to add a wildcard in Excel Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with wildcards, but they are something you should review because they really come in handy. You have always needed to use wildcards to search like that while in File Explorer, the same is true for many Microsoft products that have their own search including various legacy administrative tools like Active Directory. So if you have the data (text): 747, 747-100, 747-200 the formula COUNTIF (range,"747*") will return 2, instead of 3. Here are some examples. The problem I am having is that I wanted to use an IF statement but with a wildcard but now know that is not possible but I don't know a workaround. Jan 6, 2020 · Wildcard represents one or more other characters. If a user is believed to have used such tools to provide a forum answer, sanctions may be imposed. Irrespective of the number of characters that come before “e”. (In bold below) What am I doing wrong? I'm having trouble with lines 5 and 6. Jul 30, 2012 · I've used the asterisk as a wildcard before for SUMIF functions and it has worked great, but for some reason when I change the conditional formatting formula to try to catch all the cells with the string "cash" anywhere in the cell (so I enter "*cash*" for what it is looking for) it isn't working and shades none of the rows, even the ones that Oct 11, 2019 · It always works like a charm, but, this year I've added two new categories "P-8" and "T-8" (the number 8 can range from 1-8, hence why i'm trying to use the asterisk) and it's not working with the asterisk. When I try to do a find replace of '*12' it replaces everything prior to the *12 since the * is flagged as the wildcard. Mar 14, 2023 · When you’re working in large Excel worksheets created from external databases, you’ll find various anomalies and funny characters in between data. Excel has three wildcard characters, and they only work with […] I'm also hoping for future updates to include regex or wildcard support, as things can get intricate. Jan 17, 2021 · Excel has two wildcard characters (“?” and “*”) as well as the tilde (“~”) in case you actually want to search for a question mark or asterisk. I need to create a formula that shows 'overdue' if it is more than 10 days past the jobs completion date. These characters don’t only work for XLOOKUP, but also for VLOOKUP (), any other lookup function (such as MATCH (), SUMIFS ()), and the Excel search feature. It can get a little complex. Dec 11, 2013 · Forum Microsoft Office Application Help - Excel Help forum Excel Formulas & Functions [SOLVED] Wildcard not working in my COUNTIFS The use of AI tools (e. Column 1 has names in it, Column 2 has dates (in this very format, no spaces between the characters). For the best help attach a sample workbook to your post Attention - ExcelForum Rules have been updated as of August 2023. So *A is basically “find me any string that ends in “A”, and *A* says any string that contains “A”. Anyway to get excel Tilde (~) wildcard is used when we need to find the symbol question mark or asterisk (not as wildcards). The first one in my report works perfectly; it's a dropdown where you select an employee name and a table populates their individual metrics based on which employee is selectedif you select the wildcard asterisk in the data validation it reflects the entire teams metrics. As I understand it, the tilde is used to "cancel out" a wildcard (change it to where Excel won't treat a wildcard character as a wildcard, but rather a literal character instead). Excel 365, Windows, Desktop, Beginner. IF statement with a Wildcard not working, workaround? Hi All I need help. For example if you are searching a string which ends with question mark. Is there any way to use wildcards to search posts? It only seems to work for subreddit searches. Tilde (~): This wildcard is an escape character, used preceding the question mark (?) or asterisk mark (*). I The below works as expected. e. Elevate your spreadsheet skills with us! Jun 29, 2024 · RSGrayson There were no wildcards used in your original formula. The conditional function like COUNTIF,AND,OR, SEARCH are used here. The workaround is to use SEARCH and ISNUMBER. This will force the formula to consider the star as a star itself and not a wildcard placeholder. But it will not see "no characters". No problem In this video I demonstrate how to perform a wildcard "contains" test in an IF statement. I'm not saying if this is good or bad, but it is the way it has always functioned. I'm trying to set up a conditional format so my cells will be filled if the value includes a specific text string, but I need to use wildcards before and after the specific text string. Mar 25, 2024 · Wildcard characters not working in COUNTIFS function Hi y'all, this was a real brain scratcher for me, I gave up and went to the internet looking for answers. To return the first matching record that contains the lookup_value, you need to concatenate an asterisk ("*") to both the start and end of the lookup_value as follows: Excel usually considers the "*" symbol to be one of its wildcard symbols, so it can behave a bit unexpectedly. I have a report that i am working where a construction tasks is assigned a level of difficulty 1 (Simple), 2 (Medium), or 3 (Complex). In other words, if the cell value contains the text "my specific text", anywhere in the cell value, I I'm trying to count the number of cells in this range with an asterisk but the formula I thought is correct isn't working. Aug 18, 2009 · Hello. As I imagine you’ve noted, * is treated a wildcard for string of any length of characters rather than an actual asterisk. Surprisingly, showing the date as I did caused no issues. =XLOOKUP (1,1/COUNTIF (D2,"asterisk"&A1&"asterisk"),B1) Please explain why it doesn't w We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. I could see an option like it having a hidden wildcard at the beginning could be useful May 30, 2025 · Wildcards only work with text, so Excel automatically converts numbers to text when using wildcard patterns. in column R of the screenshot below, I have inserted a formula for each cell within that column. That's WRONG. I know this is something to do with it being a wildcard character but I don't know how to fix it. Hi guys, I have some trouble understanding wildcards in Excel. But some folks do not change the cell to just "1" I am trying to county the number of The asterisk represents zero, one, or more characters, the question mark represents any single character, and the tilde is used as an escape character for literal characters such as ~* for a literal asterisk, ~? for a literal question mark, or ~~ for a literal tilde. I successfully wrote a formula to do this: =COUNTIF(range,"*red*") for example will count all the instances of "red", however I would like to use a reference instead of writing the term in the formula. Here's my situation: I have two columns. The * should be any characters, including no characters. I hope for regex support or wildcards in the future, though. Am I using it wrong or is there a different wildcard I should use? “CSFUT” <> “ FUT ” Edit: the asterisks aren’t appearing in the post, it’s italicizing the word instead. I have tried to use just the numerical value in the column that tracks the assigned difficulty. Feb 12, 2025 · Searching for text in Excel is usually straightforward, but things get tricky when you need to find special characters like the asterisk (*). Is there any way I can do this? It looks like the wildcard option in Xlookup only works on the lookup value, not the lookup array. Is there a CountIfs wildcard for numbers the way an asterisk (*) works for text strings? I'm trying to perform a lookup on a table where some of the records in the lookup table have a wildcard- for example The lookup value is something like 300-10-20 and the lookup array has 100-10-10, 200-10-10 and 300-10-*. What I meant to say, each cell referenced on that tab contains an asterisk. 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. It's all working fine apart from the *. If the list is: Raft Rafts Raft (Anna) Draftland: The Magic Revival It is counting 4, but I want it to return just the entries starting with 'Raft'. We'll cover the You should know that wildcard search often leads to problems later. VLOOKUP searches from top from bottom and will just take the first text matching the wildcard. Not all functions can execute Wildcards with Excel If you are searching for a value with an asterisk or question mark, use ~ as an escape character to nullify the * and ? wildcards. Get expert tips, ask questions, and share your love for all things Excel. I am creating something in excel where I absolutely have to use asterisks (unless you guys can think of a better, equally professional looking character to denote something, that is also equally quick to type in), I also need to use conditional formatting to mark duplicates since I'm working with tens of thousands of rows and a single duplicate would ruin the whole project. Apparently, Excel wildcards can only search a certain number of characters. The supported functions can be found here: Excel Wildcard | Exceljet In your case, there are no natural line breaks in the cell, it's just one long string of text that uses "LI x:" to indicate when a new line should begin? Nov 21, 2011 · Hi, dear EXCEL pros: I’ve used asterisk wildcard in formula before and most of the time they worked perfectly well. For example, using a cell value of "1" instead of "1 - Simple" or "1 Easy". Does anyone know how to not replace everything prior, i. Instead, the percent sign is used in other contexts, such as SQL queries. May 6, 2023 · In the following example the implicit wild cards do work when COUNTIF is involved. But not in all cases. The left side of this formula piece is a cell reference. Because Excel stores dates as numbers not as text, "*2022" is not recognized as a date. My current formula In my spreadsheet, the text in COLUMN E will sometimes contain a * (not a wildcard, the actual "*"… I’m trying to use a wildcard in an IF statement, and it basically comes down to this statement below that should be false, but excel populates true. These rules apply to everyone for the benefit of all, please take a moment now to Aug 23, 2016 · After I wrote the formula, which you can see enclosed here, Excel offered me to correct a typo it had found and add an asterisk before the AND formula. The tilde (~) acts as a wildcard break, meaning the asterisk is treated as an asterisk rather than that wildcard. Hi, the COUNTIF function I'm using is =COUNTIFS ( [Games],"*"& [@Games]&"*"). Apr 2, 2025 · In File Explorer, the asterisk (*) is used as a wildcard to represent any number of characters, but the percentage sign (%) is not a standard wildcard for file searching. Is it a wildcard or multiplication sign? I googled it and tried to glean info from different sites, but to no avail. My work-around was to make another row in the lookup table for "Widgets" and put half the products in the first row and the rest in the second. this should have worked the other way around using wildcard. . not use * as the wildcard? Jun 5, 2014 · I even tried multiplying (6&"*")* 1 to convert back to a number but it doesn't work :P If I want to exclude a certain number in one of the argument of the SUMIFS formula from above then I would put <>6201, without any quotes, correct? This works for everything except for the value where the asterisk is the first position of text in column B - instead, it appears to be pulling asterisk as a wildcard and pulling the vlookup value from the very first record in my table, which is not the desired outcome here, and I'd rather not hardcode an if statement for an asterisk if possible.