How to Do a Search on an Excel Spreadsheet

Excel, part of Microsoft's Office suite, is a powerful tool that can help you perform advanced calculations as well as manage and interpret numbers and data. However, sometimes you might find that you distinctly remember a certain item or number being on your spreadsheet and you just can't seem to locate it. When this happens, there is an easier way to find what you're looking for than carefully poring over every single cell on your spreadsheet.

Things You'll Need

• Microsoft Excel

Instructions

1. Open the spreadsheet in which you want to perform the search.

2. Hold down either of the "Ctrl" buttons on your computer keyboard.

3. Press the "F" key on your keyboard while still holding down the Ctrl button. This will open a box called "Find and Replace."

4. In the field following the words "Find What:," enter all or part of the information you're looking for. For example, if you're looking for any cells containing the number 25, enter "25" into this field. If you're looking for a cell containing either the word "Catalog" or "Category" and you can't remember which word it is, enter "Cat" into this field.

5. Hit the "Find Next" button. This will find and outline the first cell in the spreadsheet that contains the characters you entered in step 4.

6. If this was not the cell you were looking for, hit the "Find Next" button again. This will find and outline the next cell containing the characters you entered in step 4.

7. Repeat step 6 until you find the cell you were searching for.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to know all of the cells that contain the characters you're looking for, hit the "Find All" button. This will bring up a list of all the cells with these characters.

References

• RbReb13: Excel Tips

Resources

• Baycon Group: Microsoft Excel Tutorial