Excel if function includes

Excel has a number of formulas that help you use your data in useful ways. For example, you can get an output based on whether or not a cell meets certain specifications. Right now, we’ll focus on a function called “if cell contains, then”. Let’s look at an example.

Jump To Specific Section:

  1. Explanation: If Cell Contains
  2. If cell contains any value, then return a value
  3. If cell contains text/number, then return a value
  4. If cell contains specific text, then return a value
  5. If cell contains specific text, then return a value (case-sensitive)
  6. If cell does not contain specific text, then return a value
  7. If cell contains one of many text strings, then return a value
  8. If cell contains several of many text strings, then return a value

Excel Formula: If cell contains

Generic formula 

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",A1)),A1,"")

Summary 

To test for cells that contain certain text, you can use a formula that uses the IF function together with the SEARCH and ISNUMBER functions.  In the example shown, the formula in C5 is:

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5)),B5,"")

If you want to check whether or not the A1 cell contains the text “Example”, you can run a formula that will output “Yes” or “No” in the B1 cell. There are a number of different ways you can put these formulas to use. At the time of writing, Excel is able to return the following variations:

  • If cell contains any value
  • If cell contains text
  • If cell contains number
  • If cell contains specific text
  • If cell contains certain text string
  • If cell contains one of many text strings
  • If cell contains several strings

Using these scenarios, you’re able to check if a cell contains text, value, and more. 

Explanation: If Cell Contains

One limitation of the IF function is that it does not support Excel wildcards like «?» and «*». This simply means you can’t use IF by itself to test for text that may appear anywhere in a cell.

One solution is a formula that uses the IF function together with the SEARCH and ISNUMBER functions. For example, if you have a list of email addresses, and want to extract those that contain «ABC», the formula to use is this:

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5)),B5,""). Assuming cells run to B5

If «abc» is found anywhere in a cell B5, IF will return that value. If not, IF will return an empty string («»). This formula’s logical test is this bit:

ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5))


Read article: Excel efficiency: 11 Excel Formulas To Increase Your Productivity

Using “if cell contains” formulas in Excel

The guides below were written using the latest Microsoft Excel 2019 for Windows 10. Some steps may vary if you’re using a different version or platform. Contact our experts if you need any further assistance.

1. If cell contains any value, then return a value

This scenario allows you to return values based on whether or not a cell contains any value at all. For example, we’ll be checking whether or not the A1 cell is blank or not, and then return a value depending on the result.

  • Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(cell<>»», value_to_return, «»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, and the return value will be No. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(A2<>»», «No», «»)
  • Since the A2 cell isn’t blank, the formula will return “No” in the output cell. If the cell you’re checking is blank, the output cell will also remain blank.

2. If cell contains text/number, then return a value

With the formula below, you can return a specific value if the target cell contains any text or number. The formula will ignore the opposite data types.

Check for text

  • To check if a cell contains text, select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(ISTEXT(cell), value_to_return, «»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(ISTEXT(A2), «Yes», «»)
    check for txt
  • Because the A2 cell does contain text and not a number or date, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

Check for a number or date

  • To check if a cell contains a number or date, select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(ISNUMBER(cell), value_to_return, «»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is D2, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(ISNUMBER(D2), «Yes», «»)
    check for number or date
  • Because the D2 cell does contain a number and not text, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

3. If cell contains specific text, then return a value

To find a cell that contains specific text, use the formula below.

  • Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(cell=»text», value_to_return, «»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, the text we’re looking for is “example”, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(A2=»example», «Yes», «»)
    If cell contains specific text, then return a value
  • Because the A2 cell does consist of the text “example”, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

4. If cell contains specific text, then return a value (case-sensitive)

To find a cell that contains specific text, use the formula below. This version is case-sensitive, meaning that only cells with an exact match will return the specified value.

  • Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(EXACT(cell,»case_sensitive_text»), «value_to_return», «»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, the text we’re looking for is “EXAMPLE”, and the return value will be Yes. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(EXACT(A2,»EXAMPLE»), «Yes», «»).
  • Because the A2 cell does consist of the text “EXAMPLE” with the matching case, the formula will return “Yes” into the output cell.

5. If cell does not contain specific text, then return a value

The opposite version of the previous section. If you want to find cells that don’t contain a specific text, use this formula.

  • Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(cell=»text», «», «value_to_return»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is A2, the text we’re looking for is “example”, and the return value will be No. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(A2=»example», «», «No»).
    If cell contains specific text, then return a value (case-sensitive)
  • Because the A2 cell does consist of the text “example”, the formula will return a blank cell. On the other hand, other cells return “No” into the output cell.

6. If cell contains one of many text strings, then return a value

This formula should be used if you’re looking to identify cells that contain at least one of many words you’re searching for.

  • Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string1», cell)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string2», cell))), value_to_return, «»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is A2. We’re looking for either “tshirt” or “hoodie”, and the return value will be Valid. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«tshirt»,A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«hoodie»,A2))),»Valid «,»»).
    =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("tshirt",A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH("hoodie",A2))),"Valid ","").
  • Because the A2 cell does contain one of the text values we searched for, the formula will return “Valid” into the output cell.

To extend the formula to more search terms, simply modify it by adding more strings using ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string», cell)).

7. If cell contains several of many text strings, then return a value

This formula should be used if you’re looking to identify cells that contain several of the many words you’re searching for. For example, if you’re searching for two terms, the cell needs to contain both of them in order to be validated.

  • Select the output cell, and use the following formula: =IF(AND(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string1»,cell)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«string2″,cell))), value_to_return,»»).
  • For our example, the cell we want to check is A2. We’re looking for “hoodie” and “black”, and the return value will be Valid. In this scenario, you’d change the formula to =IF(AND(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«hoodie»,A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(«black»,A2))),»Valid «,»»).
    =IF(AND(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("hoodie",A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH("black",A2))),"Valid ","").
  • Because the A2 cell does contain both of the text values we searched for, the formula will return “Valid” to the output cell.

Final thoughts

We hope this article was useful to you in learning how to use “if cell contains” formulas in Microsoft Excel. Now, you can check if any cells contain values, text, numbers, and more. This allows you to navigate, manipulate and analyze your data efficiently.

We’re glad you’re read the article up to here :) Thank you :)

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IF function

The IF function is one of the most popular functions in Excel, and it allows you to make logical comparisons between a value and what you expect.

So an IF statement can have two results. The first result is if your comparison is True, the second if your comparison is False.

For example, =IF(C2=”Yes”,1,2) says IF(C2 = Yes, then return a 1, otherwise return a 2).

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Use the IF function, one of the logical functions, to return one value if a condition is true and another value if it’s false.

IF(logical_test, value_if_true, [value_if_false])

For example:

  • =IF(A2>B2,»Over Budget»,»OK»)

  • =IF(A2=B2,B4-A4,»»)

Argument name

Description

logical_test    (required)

The condition you want to test.

value_if_true    (required)

The value that you want returned if the result of logical_test is TRUE.

value_if_false    (optional)

The value that you want returned if the result of logical_test is FALSE.

Simple IF examples

Cell D2 contains a formula =IF(C2="Yes",1,2)

  • =IF(C2=”Yes”,1,2)

In the above example, cell D2 says: IF(C2 = Yes, then return a 1, otherwise return a 2)

Cell D2 contains the formula =IF(C2=1,"YES","NO")

  • =IF(C2=1,”Yes”,”No”)

In this example, the formula in cell D2 says: IF(C2 = 1, then return Yes, otherwise return No)As you see, the IF function can be used to evaluate both text and values. It can also be used to evaluate errors. You are not limited to only checking if one thing is equal to another and returning a single result, you can also use mathematical operators and perform additional calculations depending on your criteria. You can also nest multiple IF functions together in order to perform multiple comparisons.

Formula in cell D2 is =IF(C2>B2,”Over Budget”,”Within Budget”)

  • =IF(C2>B2,”Over Budget”,”Within Budget”)

In the above example, the IF function in D2 is saying IF(C2 Is Greater Than B2, then return “Over Budget”, otherwise return “Within Budget”)

Formula in cell E2 is =IF(C2>B2,C2-B2,"")

  • =IF(C2>B2,C2-B2,0)

In the above illustration, instead of returning a text result, we are going to return a mathematical calculation. So the formula in E2 is saying IF(Actual is Greater than Budgeted, then Subtract the Budgeted amount from the Actual amount, otherwise return nothing).

Formula in Cell F7 is IF(E7=”Yes”,F5*0.0825,0)

  • =IF(E7=”Yes”,F5*0.0825,0)

In this example, the formula in F7 is saying IF(E7 = “Yes”, then calculate the Total Amount in F5 * 8.25%, otherwise no Sales Tax is due so return 0)

Note: If you are going to use text in formulas, you need to wrap the text in quotes (e.g. “Text”). The only exception to that is using TRUE or FALSE, which Excel automatically understands.

Common problems

Problem

What went wrong

0 (zero) in cell

There was no argument for either value_if_true or value_if_False arguments. To see the right value returned, add argument text to the two arguments, or add TRUE or FALSE to the argument.

#NAME? in cell

This usually means that the formula is misspelled.

Need more help?

You can always ask an expert in the Excel Tech Community or get support in the Answers community.

Connect with an expert. Learn from live instructors.

See Also

IF function — nested formulas and avoiding pitfalls

IFS function

Using IF with AND, OR and NOT functions

COUNTIF function

How to avoid broken formulas

Overview of formulas in Excel

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One limitation of the IF function is that it does not support wildcards like «?» and «*». This means you can’t use IF by itself to test for text that may appear anywhere in a cell.

One solution is a formula that uses the IF function together with the SEARCH and ISNUMBER functions. In the example shown, we have a list of email addresses, and we want to extract those that contain «abc». In  C5, the formula were using is this:

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5)),B5,"")

If «abc» is found anywhere in cell B5, IF will return that value. If not, IF will return an empty string («»). In this formula, the logical test is this bit:

ISNUMBER(SEARCH("abc",B5))

This snippet will return TRUE if the the value in B5 contains «abc» and false if not. The logic of ISNUMBER + SEARCH is explained in detail here. 

To copy cell the value in B5 when it contains «abc», we provide B5 again for the «value if true» argument. If FALSE, we supply an empty string («») which will display as a blank cell on the worksheet.

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Excel If Cell Contains Text

Excel If Cell Contains Text Then

Excel If Cell Contains Text Then Formula helps you to return the output when a cell have any text or a specific text. You can check if a cell contains a some string or text  and produce something in other cell. For Example you can check if a cell A1 contains text ‘example text’  and print Yes or No in Cell B1. Following are the example Formulas to check if Cell contains text then return some thing in a Cell.

If Cell Contains Text

Here are the Excel formulas to check if Cell contains specific text then return something. This will return if there is any string or any text in given Cell. We can use this simple approach to check if a cell contains text, specific text, string,  any text using Excel If formula. We can use equals to  operator(=) to compare the strings .

If Cell Contains Text Then TRUE

Following is the Excel formula to return True if a Cell contains Specif Text. You can check a cell if there is given string in the Cell and return True or False.

=IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(“How”,A1,1)),TRUE,FALSE)

The formula will return true if it found the match, returns False of no match found.

If Cell Contains Text Then TRUE

If Cell Contains Partial Text

We can return Text If Cell Contains Partial Text. We use formula or VBA to Check Partial Text in a Cell.

Find for Case Sensitive Match:

We can check if a Cell Contains Partial Text then return something using Excel Formula. Following is a simple example to find the partial text in a given Cell. We can use if your want to make the criteria case sensitive.

=IF(ISERROR(FIND($E$1,A2,1)),”Not Found”,”Found”)

If Cell Contains Partial Text

  • Here, Find Function returns the finding position of the given string
  • Use Find function is Case Sensitive
  • IsError Function check if Find Function returns Error, that means, string not found

Search for Not Case Sensitive Match:

We can use Search function to check if Cell Contains Partial Text. Search function useful if you want to make the checking criteria Not Case Sensitive.

=IF(ISERROR(SEARCH($F$1,A2,1)),”Not Found”,”Found”)

If Cell Contains Partial Text Not Case Sensitive

If Range of Cells Contains Text

We can check for the strings in a range of cells. Here is the formula to find If Range of Cells Contains Text. We can use Count If Formula to check the excel if range of cells contains specific text and return Text.

=IF(COUNTIF(A2:A21, “*Region 1d*”)>0,”Range Contais Text”,”Text Not Found in the Given Range”)
  • CountIf function counts the number of cells with given criteria
  • We can use If function to return the required Text
  • Formula displays the Text ‘Range Contains Text” if match found
  • Returns “Text Not Found in the Given Range” if match not found in the specified range

If Cells Contains Text From List

Below formulas returns text If Cells Contains Text from given List. You can use based on your requirement.

VlookUp to Check If Cell Contains Text from a List:
We can use VlookUp function to match the text in the Given list of Cells. And return the corresponding values.

  • Check if a List Contains Text:
    =IF(ISERR(VLOOKUP(F1,A1:B21,2,FALSE)),”False:Not Contains”,”True: Text Found”)
  • Check if a List Contains Text and Return Corresponding Value:
    =VLOOKUP(F1,A1:B21,2,FALSE)
  • Check if a List Contains Partial Text and Return its Value:
    =VLOOKUP(“*”&F1&”*”,A1:B21,2,FALSE)

If Cell Contains Text Then Return a Value

We can return some value if cell contains some string. Here is the the the Excel formula to return a value if a Cell contains Text. You can check a cell if there is given string in the Cell and return some string or value in another column.

If Cell Contains Text Then Return a Value

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(“How”,A1,1)),”Found”,”Not Found”)

The formula will return true if it found the match, returns False of no match found. can

Excel if cell contains word then assign value

You can replace any word in the following formula to check if cell contains word then assign value.

=IFERROR(IF(SEARCH(“Word”,A2,1)>0,1,0),””)

Excel if cell contains word then assign value
Search function will check for a given word in the required cell and return it’s position. We can use If function to check if the value is greater than 0 and assign a given value (example: 1) in the cell. search function returns #Value if there is no match found in the cell, we can handle this using IFERROR function.

Count If Cell Contains Text

We can check If Cell Contains Text Then COUNT. Here is the Excel formula to Count if a Cell contains Text. You can count the number of cells containing specific text.

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$7,”*”&D2&”*”)

The formula will Sum the values in Column B if the cells of Column A contains the given text.

If Cell Contains Text Then COUNT

Count If Cell Contains Partial Text

We can count the cells based on partial match criteria. The following Excel formula Counts if a Cell contains Partial Text.

=COUNTIF(A2:A21, “*Region 1*”)
  • We can use the CountIf Function to Count the Cells if they contains given String
  • Wild-card operators helps to make the CountIf to check for the Partial String
  • Put Your Text between two asterisk symbols (*YourText*) to make the criteria to find any where in the given Cell
  • Add Asterisk symbol at end of your text (YourText*) to make the criteria to find your text beginning of given Cell
  • Place Asterisk symbol at beginning of your text (*YourText) to make the criteria to find your text end of given Cell

If Cell contains text from list then return value

Here is the Excel Formula to check if cell contains text from list then return value. We can use COUNTIF and OR function to check the array of values in a Cell and return the given Value. Here is the formula to check the list in range D2:D5 and check in Cell A2 and return value in B2.

=IF(OR(COUNTIF(A2,”*”&$D$2:$D$5&”*”)), “Return Value”, “”)

Excel If cell contains text from list then return value

If Cell Contains Text Then SUM

Following is the Excel formula to Sum if a Cell contains Text. You can total the cell values if there is given string in the Cell. Here is the example to sum the column B values based on the values in another Column.

=SUMIF($A$2:$A$7,”*”&D2&”*”,$B$2:$B$7)

The formula will Sum the values in Column B if the cells of Column A contains the given text.

If Cell Contains Text Then SUM

Sum If Cell Contains Partial Text

Use SumIfs function to Sum the cells based on partial match criteria. The following Excel formula Sums the Values if a Cell contains Partial Text.

=SUMIFS(C2:C21,A2:A21, “*Region 1*”)
  • SUMIFS Function will Sum the Given Sum Range
  • We can specify the Criteria Range, and wild-card expression to check for the Partial text
  • Put Your Text between two asterisk symbols (*YourText*) to Sum the Cells if the criteria to find any where in the given Cell
  • Add Asterisk symbol at end of your text (YourText*) to Sum the Cells if the criteria to find your text beginning of given Cell
  • Place Asterisk symbol at beginning of your text (*YourText) to Sum the Cells if criteria to find your text end of given Cell

VBA to check if Cell Contains Text

Here is the VBA function to find If Cells Contains Text using Excel VBA Macros.

If Cell Contains Partial Text VBA

We can use VBA to check if Cell Contains Text and Return Value. Here is the simple VBA code match the partial text. Excel VBA if Cell contains partial text macros helps you to use in your procedures and functions.

Sub sbCkeckforPartialText()
MsgBox CheckIfCellContainsPartialText(Cells(2, 1), “Region 1”)
End Sub
Function CheckIfCellContainsPartialText(ByVal cell As Range, ByVal strText As String) As Boolean
If InStr(1, cell.Value, strText) > 0 Then CheckIfCellContainsPartialText = True
End Function
  • CheckIfCellContainsPartialText VBA Function returns true if Cell Contains Partial Text
  • inStr Function will return the Match Position in the given string

If Cell Contains Text Then VBA MsgBox

Here is the simple VBA code to display message box if cell contains text. We can use inStr Function to search for the given string. And show the required message to the user.

Sub sbVBAIfCellsContainsText()
If InStr(1, Cells(2, 1), “Region 3”) > 0 Then blnMatch = True
If blnMatch = True Then MsgBox “Cell Contains Text”
End Sub
  • inStr Function will return the Match Position in the given string
  • blnMatch is the Boolean variable becomes True when match string
  • You can display the message to the user if a Range Contains Text

Which function returns true if cell a1 contains text?

You can use the Excel If function and Find function to return TRUE if Cell A1 Contains Text. Here is the formula to return True.

=IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(“YourText”,A1,1)),TRUE,FALSE)

Which function returns true if cell a1 contains text value?

You can use the Excel If function with Find function to return TRUE if a Cell A1 Contains Text Value. Below is the formula to return True based on the text value.

=IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(“YourTextValue”,A1,1)),TRUE,FALSE)

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7 Comments

  1. Meghana
    December 27, 2019 at 1:42 pm — Reply

    Hi Sir,Thank you for the great explanation, covers everything and helps use create formulas if cell contains text values.

    Many thanks! Meghana!!

  2. Max
    December 27, 2019 at 4:44 pm — Reply

    Perfect! Very Simple and Clear explanation. Thanks!!

  3. Mike Song
    August 29, 2022 at 2:45 pm — Reply

    I tried this exact formula and it did not work.

  4. Theresa A Harding
    October 18, 2022 at 9:51 pm — Reply
  5. Marko
    November 3, 2022 at 9:21 pm — Reply

    Hi

    Is possible to sum all WA11?

    (A1) WA11 4

    (A2) AdBlue 1, WA11 223

    (A3) AdBlue 3, WA11 32, shift 4

    … and everything is in one column.

    Thanks you very much for your help.

    Sincerely Marko

  6. Mike
    December 9, 2022 at 9:59 pm — Reply

    Thank you for the help. The formula =OR(COUNTIF(M40,”*”&Vendors&”*”)) will give “TRUE” when some part of M40 contains a vendor from “Vendors” list. But how do I get Excel to tell which vendor it found in the M40 cell?

    • PNRao
      December 18, 2022 at 6:05 am — Reply

      Please describe your question more elaborately.
      Thanks!

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Home/ Formulas/ Excel IF Function Contains Text – A Partial Match in a Cell

In this post, we will look at how to use the IF function to check if a cell contains specific text.

The IF function when used to compare text values, checks for an exact match. But in this blog post we want to check for a partial match. We are interested if the cell contains the text anywhere within it.

For our example, we have a list of addresses as shown below. And we want to display the word ‘local’ if the address contains the text ‘CB2’.

The sample data of addresses for our IF function contains text examples

So any postcode beginning with ‘CB2’ is considered local. Anything else is not.

Watch the Video – IF Function Contains Text Match

Check If Cell Contains Text

As mentioned, the IF function always performs an exact match. Therefore we need a different function to determine if the text is in the cell or not.

The function we will use is SEARCH. This function will return the position of the text inside the cell, if it is present.

=SEARCH("CB2 ",A2)

You have to be careful when testing for partial matches. And in this example a space is added after CB2 in the string to search for. This is done to prevent it finding matches for postcodes such as CB25 or CB22.

There is also a function called FIND which could be used instead of SEARCH. The key difference between the two is that FIND is case sensitive, and SEARCH is not.

Now this function returns the position of the text if found. We are not interested in this, and simply want to know if it exists.

So we will surround the SEARCH function with ISNUMBER to return TRUE if the text is found, and otherwise return FALSE.

 =ISNUMBER(SEARCH("CB2 ",A2))

We can now finally add the IF function to display the word ‘local’ if ISNUMBER reports TRUE, and the word ‘far’ if FALSE is returned.

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("CB2 ",A2)),"local","far")

The result of our partial text match

How about Searching for Two Pieces of Text

Lets take it a step further. And what if we consider an address to be local if it contains the text ‘CB2’ or ‘CB3’.

We will bring in the OR function for this. A function that can test multiple conditions and returns TRUE if any one of its tests are met.

The formula below can be used. This time the cell is made blank if it is not local.

=IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("CB2 ",A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH("CB3 ",A2))),"local","")

The results from searching for two text matches

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