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    SEARCH

    Text

    Finds the position of one text string within another. Case-insensitive and supports wildcards.

    Translations
    EnglishSEARCH
    FrenchCHERCHE
    SpanishHALLAR
    GermanSUCHEN
    ItalianRICERCA
    PortuguesePROCURAR
    DutchZOEKEN
    PolishSZUKAJ.TEKST
    RussianПОИСК
    TurkishBUL
    CzechHLEDAT
    HungarianKERESÉS
    SwedishSÖK
    DanishSØG
    FinnishKÄY.LÄPI
    Syntax
    SEARCH(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

    Arguments

    • find_textThe text to find
    • within_textThe text to search in
    • start_numPosition to start searching(optional)
    Examples
    =SEARCH("world","Hello World")
    7

    Case-insensitive search

    =SEARCH("*@*",A1)
    Position

    Finds pattern with wildcard

    =ISNUMBER(SEARCH("text",A1))
    TRUE/FALSE

    Tests if text contains 'text'

    Tips & Best Practices
    • •Not case-sensitive (unlike FIND)
    • •Supports * and ? wildcards
    • •Returns #VALUE! if not found
    Common Mistakes
    • •Expecting SEARCH to be case-sensitive like FIND - it isn't, so "Apple" and "apple" are treated as the same match
    • •Forgetting that ? and * are wildcards in SEARCH, so a literal question mark or asterisk in the text being searched for needs a tilde (~) in front of it
    • •Not handling the error SEARCH returns when the text isn't found, which can cascade into a #VALUE! error further down the formula
    Related Functions
    FINDDoes the same job but case-sensitively and without wildcard support.
    MIDOften paired with SEARCH to extract text starting at the found position.
    SUBSTITUTEReplaces text directly rather than just locating its position.
    Frequently Asked Questions

    Does SEARCH care about uppercase versus lowercase?

    No, SEARCH is case-insensitive, so searching for "total" will match "Total" or "TOTAL" just as well.

    How do I search for a literal question mark or asterisk?

    Put a tilde before it, like SEARCH("~?",A1), otherwise Excel treats ? and * as wildcards representing any character or any sequence of characters.

    What happens if SEARCH can't find the text?

    It returns a #VALUE! error, so wrap it in IFERROR if you need the formula to handle a not-found case gracefully.

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