Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Highlighting Cells Containing Specific Text.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 27, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
You can use the conditional formatting feature in Excel to help draw attention to cells that contain specific text in which you are interested. For instance, if you have a range of cells and you want to know which ones contain the letters "shawn," then you can do the following:
Figure 1. The Conditional Formatting dialog box.
=NOT(ISERR(SEARCH("shawn",A1)))
Figure 2. The Format Cells dialog box.
You can make this approach even more general-purpose in nature by specifying a cell that contains what you want to search for. For instance, if you type "shawn" in cell F7, then you could replace the formula in step 4 with the following:
=NOT(ISERR(SEARCH($F$7,A1)))
Now, you can search for something different just by changing the characters in cell F7.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2671) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Highlighting Cells Containing Specific Text.
Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!
If an error exists in a formula tucked inside a conditional format, you may never know it is there. There are ways to ...
Discover MoreThe conditional formatting capabilities of Excel are very helpful when you want to call attention to different values ...
Discover MoreThere are many times when you are creating a worksheet that you need to analyze dates within that worksheet. Once such ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments