Excel Asterisk Adventure: Finding Asterisks or other Wildcards - Episode 2088
Microsoft Excel Tutorial: Searching for asterisk or other wildcards. Welcome back to the MrExcel netcast, where we bring you the latest tips and tricks for mastering Excel. In this episode, we will be discussing how to find asterisks in a filter, a question sent in by one of our viewers, Kim. Kim has a dataset and is using the filter icon to search for multiple things. However, she has encountered a problem when trying to search for asterisks. In this video, we will show you a simple trick to overcome this issue and make your filtering process more efficient. First, let's review the basic wildcard characters in Excel. The asterisk (*) is used to find any number of characters, the question mark (?) is used to find any specific character, and the tilde (~) is used to treat a wildcard as a regular character. Now, when searching for an asterisk, we need to use the tilde before the asterisk, like this: ~*. This will ensure that Excel recognizes the asterisk as a wildcard and not just any character. Similarly, if you need to find a question mark or a tilde, you would use ~? and ~~ respectively. But what about when you need to find a combination of these characters, such as ~?*? In this case, you would need to use multiple tildes, like this: ~~?*? This can get a bit confusing, but don't worry, we will walk you through it step by step in this video. We will also show you how these wildcards work in the Find and Replace dialog box, as well as in functions like VLOOKUP and MATCH. So, if you've ever struggled with finding asterisks or other wildcard characters in a filter, this video is for you. We will also be sharing some bonus tips and tricks along the way, so make sure to watch until the end. And if you want to learn more about Excel and become a pro like Kim, be sure to check out my book, "Power Excel with MrExcel", where I solve 617 Excel mysteries. You can find the link to the book in the top-right corner of this video. Don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel for more Excel tips and tricks. And if you have any questions or suggestions for future videos, leave them in the comments below. Thank you for watching and we'll see you in the next episode of the MrExcel netcast. Buy Bill Jelen's latest Excel book: https://www.mrexcel.com/products/latest/ You can help my channel by clicking Like or commenting below: https://www.mrexcel.com/like-mrexcel-on-youtube/ #excel #microsoft #microsoftexcel #exceltutorial #exceltips #exceltricks #excelhacks #evergreen #wildcards #excelfilter #exceldatafiltering This video answers these common search terms: wildcard replace in excel using wildcards to find and replace in excel how to do wildcard search excel formula how to add wildcard to filter in excel how to use wildcard in find and replace excel how to use wildcards in excel can you use wildcards in excel filter how to use wild card in replace excel what is the wildcard character for a replace in excel how to use a wildcard * in a string excel how to use a wildcard character in find and replace excel excel how to use wildcard search to replace Table of Contents: (00:00) Find Asterisks in a Filter (00:15) Trick for searching for multiple items using the Filter icon (00:38) Issue with searching for asterisks and other wildcard characters (01:22) Explanation of wildcards in Excel and how to use them (02:28) How to use wildcards in Find and Replace and VLOOKUP (04:00) Recap of tips for using wildcards in Excel (05:45) Clicking Like really helps the algorithm Search box in Filter lets you look for # or @ But if fails when you try to search for * or ~ or ? Using the Search box in Filter, you want to find an asterisk * Using the Search box in Filter, you want to find a tilde ~ Using the Search box in Filter, you want to find a ? Excel returns everything for the * and nothing for ? ~ To search for an asterisk, search for ~* To search for a tilde, search for ~~ To search for question mark, search for ~? To search for ~?*, search for ~~~?~* In the Find/Replace dialog, use ~~, ~*, ~? In the Find box, but not Replace When using VLOOKUP or MATCH, use ~~ ~* or ~? Addendum: How to use * and ? wildcards in Excel Join the MrExcel Message Board discussion about this video at https://www.mrexcel.com/board/threads/1153916/
Microsoft Excel Tutorial: Searching for asterisk or other wildcards. Welcome back to the MrExcel netcast, where we bring you the latest tips and tricks for mastering Excel. In this episode, we will be discussing how to find asterisks in a filter, a question sent in by one of our viewers, Kim. Kim has a dataset and is using the filter icon to search for multiple things. However, she has encountered a problem when trying to search for asterisks. In this video, we will show you a simple trick to overcome this issue and make your filtering process more efficient. First, let's review the basic wildcard characters in Excel. The asterisk (*) is used to find any number of characters, the question mark (?) is used to find any specific character, and the tilde (~) is used to treat a wildcard as a regular character. Now, when searching for an asterisk, we need to use the tilde before the asterisk, like this: ~*. This will ensure that Excel recognizes the asterisk as a wildcard and not just any character. Similarly, if you need to find a question mark or a tilde, you would use ~? and ~~ respectively. But what about when you need to find a combination of these characters, such as ~?*? In this case, you would need to use multiple tildes, like this: ~~?*? This can get a bit confusing, but don't worry, we will walk you through it step by step in this video. We will also show you how these wildcards work in the Find and Replace dialog box, as well as in functions like VLOOKUP and MATCH. So, if you've ever struggled with finding asterisks or other wildcard characters in a filter, this video is for you. We will also be sharing some bonus tips and tricks along the way, so make sure to watch until the end. And if you want to learn more about Excel and become a pro like Kim, be sure to check out my book, "Power Excel with MrExcel", where I solve 617 Excel mysteries. You can find the link to the book in the top-right corner of this video. Don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel for more Excel tips and tricks. And if you have any questions or suggestions for future videos, leave them in the comments below. Thank you for watching and we'll see you in the next episode of the MrExcel netcast. Buy Bill Jelen's latest Excel book: https://www.mrexcel.com/products/latest/ You can help my channel by clicking Like or commenting below: https://www.mrexcel.com/like-mrexcel-on-youtube/ #excel #microsoft #microsoftexcel #exceltutorial #exceltips #exceltricks #excelhacks #evergreen #wildcards #excelfilter #exceldatafiltering This video answers these common search terms: wildcard replace in excel using wildcards to find and replace in excel how to do wildcard search excel formula how to add wildcard to filter in excel how to use wildcard in find and replace excel how to use wildcards in excel can you use wildcards in excel filter how to use wild card in replace excel what is the wildcard character for a replace in excel how to use a wildcard * in a string excel how to use a wildcard character in find and replace excel excel how to use wildcard search to replace Table of Contents: (00:00) Find Asterisks in a Filter (00:15) Trick for searching for multiple items using the Filter icon (00:38) Issue with searching for asterisks and other wildcard characters (01:22) Explanation of wildcards in Excel and how to use them (02:28) How to use wildcards in Find and Replace and VLOOKUP (04:00) Recap of tips for using wildcards in Excel (05:45) Clicking Like really helps the algorithm Search box in Filter lets you look for # or @ But if fails when you try to search for * or ~ or ? Using the Search box in Filter, you want to find an asterisk * Using the Search box in Filter, you want to find a tilde ~ Using the Search box in Filter, you want to find a ? Excel returns everything for the * and nothing for ? ~ To search for an asterisk, search for ~* To search for a tilde, search for ~~ To search for question mark, search for ~? To search for ~?*, search for ~~~?~* In the Find/Replace dialog, use ~~, ~*, ~? In the Find box, but not Replace When using VLOOKUP or MATCH, use ~~ ~* or ~? Addendum: How to use * and ? wildcards in Excel Join the MrExcel Message Board discussion about this video at https://www.mrexcel.com/board/threads/1153916/