How can create a search bar or cell in excel

You should be able to use a combination of Excel's filtering and data validation features instead of relying on conditional formatting, which is more suited for visual formatting rather than interactivity.

Method 1: Using a Search Box with Filtering

Add a Search Bar (Input Field)

Choose a cell where you'd like to enter your search query. For example, you could use A1 as your search bar.

Apply a Filter to Your Data

Select your range of data (in your case, the range is A2:G41, assuming the first row is headers).

Go to the Data tab on the Ribbon and click Filter. This will add drop-down arrows to each column header.

Make sure the range you select includes the headers so you can filter by them.

Create the Search Formula

Now, you can use a formula to filter based on the search query in cell A1. For example:

If you want to search for a keyword in all the columns and display matching results:

In cell H2 (or another available column), enter the following formula to create a match condition for each row:

                 =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$1, A2)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$1, B2)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$1, C2)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$1, D2)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$1, E2)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$1, F2)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$1, G2))), "Match", "No Match")

This formula checks if the search term in A1 is found in any of the columns from A to G for the current row. If there's a match, it will return "Match"; otherwise, "No Match".

Filter the Results*

You can now filter the rows based on the "Match" result in column H.

Click the drop-down arrow in column H and filter to show only rows that say "Match".

Method 2: Using a Drop-down Search (Combo Box or Data Validation)

If you prefer to select values from a list rather than typing a search query, you can create a drop-down menu for easy selection.

Create a List of Searchable Values

In a new column (say column I), list all unique values you want to search for (you can use Remove Duplicates in Excel to create this list from your data).

Create a Data Validation Drop-down

Select the cell where you want your search box (for example, cell A1).

Go to the Data tab, click on Data Validation, and set the validation to "List".

In the Source field, select the range of values you just created (e.g., I2:I20).

Filter Based on Selection

Now you can filter the table by the selected value in A1. Apply the filter as in Method 1, and instead of using a search formula, you can simply filter your data based on the selected value in A1.

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hth

Marcin