How to Search Data in Excel on PC or Mac

This wikiHow teaches you how to search for words or values in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Steps

  1. Image titled Search Data in Excel on PC or Mac Step 1
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    Open Excel on your computer. It’s in the All Apps section of the Start
    Image titled Windowsstart.png
    menu in Windows, and the Applications folder in macOS.
  2. Image titled Search Data in Excel on PC or Mac Step 2
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    Open the file you want to search. Press Ctrl+O, select the file, then click Open.
  3. Image titled Search Data in Excel on PC or Mac Step 3
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    Click Find & Select. It’s the magnifying glass icon at the end of the ribbon bar, near the top-right corner of Excel. A menu will expand.
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    Click Find…. This opens the “Find and Replace” window.
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    Type the word or characters you want to find. This goes into the “Find what” box.
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    Click Find Next. It’s at the bottom of the window, near the center. This will search the current spreadsheet for the what you’ve typed. The first instance is now outlined in green.
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    Click Find Next to find the next instance. You can keep clicking this button to move through every instance of the word or characters you’ve typed.
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    Click Find All to view all matches at once. A list of matching values will appear at the bottom of the “Find and Replace” window.
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    Click Close when you’re finished.

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About This Article

Nicole Levine, MFA
Written by:
Nicole Levine, MFA
Tech Specialist
This article was written by Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been viewed 8,924 times.
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Co-authors: 1
Updated: March 12, 2018
Views: 8,924
Categories: Microsoft Excel