SEARCH Function

Summary

The Excel SEARCH function returns the position of one text string inside another. It is similar to FIND, but SEARCH ignores case and supports wildcards. For example, =SEARCH("e","EXCEL") returns 1 even though the text contains uppercase E.

SEARCH is useful when you need a flexible text search. It works well with user-entered text, mixed capitalization, and simple wildcard patterns such as * and ?.

Its biggest advantage is flexibility. SEARCH ignores case and supports wildcard-style matching, so it is often the better choice when the goal is detection rather than exact text comparison. That makes it useful in imported data, mixed-case labels, and checks where the keyword might appear in slightly different forms.

Syntax

=SEARCH(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

find_text is what you want to search for. within_text is the text to search inside. start_num is optional and tells Excel where the search should begin.

Arguments

• find_text - [Required] The text or pattern to search for. SEARCH supports *, ?, and ~ as wildcard syntax.
• within_text - [Required] The text string or cell reference to search inside.
• start_num - [Optional] The character position where the search should begin. The default is 1.

SEARCH vs Other Functions

SEARCH and FIND are close relatives. The main difference is that SEARCH ignores case and FIND does not. SEARCH also supports wildcards, while FIND does not.

Using SEARCH

SEARCH is often used to check whether a word or pattern appears in a cell. Because it ignores case, it works well when different users may type the same word in different ways.

SEARCH is also useful inside larger text formulas. The position it returns can be passed into LEFT, MID, or RIGHT to split text around a delimiter.

• Use SEARCH when capitalization should not change the result.
• Use wildcards when one exact search term is too strict.
• Wrap SEARCH in ISNUMBER or IFERROR when a missing match is possible.

Example 1 - Case-Insensitive Position Search

This example shows the main difference from FIND. SEARCH treats uppercase and lowercase letters as the same, so it can find "e" inside "EXCEL".

=SEARCH("e", "EXCEL") // 1
=SEARCH("e", "excel") // 1
=FIND("e", "EXCEL")   // #VALUE!

Example 2 - Searching with Wildcards

SEARCH supports three wildcard rules. * matches any number of characters, ? matches one character, and ~ escapes a wildcard so it is treated literally.

=SEARCH("ex*l", "excellent") // 1
=SEARCH("t?st", "test case") // 1

Example 3 - Safely Checking if a Keyword Exists

SEARCH returns an error if no match is found. Wrapping it in ISNUMBER turns that result into a simple TRUE or FALSE check, which is often easier to use in filtering and logic formulas.

=ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Gold", A4))
// "GOLD-Member" -> TRUE

Example 4 - Using SEARCH to Split Text at a Delimiter

The position returned by SEARCH can feed into another text function. Here it helps measure the length of the text before the hyphen so another formula, such as LEFT, can use that result.

=SEARCH("-", A2)-1
// "EC-Global" -> 2

=LEFT(A2, SEARCH("-",A2)-1) // "EC"

Wildcard searches can match more broadly than you expect, so it is a good idea to test the pattern on sample data before applying it across a full column.

Conclusion Recap

SEARCH helps when you need to find text without worrying about uppercase and lowercase. That is why this lesson used it for flexible checks, wildcard matches, and finding a delimiter inside a longer value.

The result is a position number, not the text itself. Once you know that position, you can test if something exists with ISNUMBER or pass the number into LEFT, MID, or RIGHT to split the text.

• Summary: SEARCH returns the position of text inside another text string.
• Syntax: =SEARCH(find_text, within_text, [start_num]).
• Key point: SEARCH ignores case and supports wildcards.
• Practical usage: Flexible text search, keyword checks, and delimiter-based parsing.
• Best pattern: Wrap SEARCH in ISNUMBER when you want a safe contains check.