Finding exact text within Excel

Question

I've encountered similar posts however, the answers are not helpful for my situation.

As an example, I have an Excel spreadsheet with the following information in the worksheet (it's an external database and I cannot change or remove the asterisk).

K0F68*

K0F6845*

When I try to search for only 1 cell, e.g., K0F68 or K0F68*, both rows appear in the results.

When I try to search using quotation marks "K0F68" or "K0F68*", it returns the error "We couldn't find what you were looking for".

Even when I expand the find & replace box by clicking the options button and tick "Match entire cell contents", it still results in the above.

Please, how can I search for just K0F68*?

Answer 1

Hi cdhamo,   

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community.   

We understand the frustration you're experiencing when finding exact text within Excel. To search for an exact match without removing or changing the asterisk, please try the following steps to search for K0F68* exactly:  

1. Press Ctrl + F to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
2. In the Find what field, type a tilde (~) followed by the asterisk (*), like so: K0F68~*.
3. Click on Find All or Find Nextto locate all instances of the asterisk in your worksheet..

The tilde (~) tells Excel to treat the asterisk as a literal character rather than a wildcard, ensuring that only K0F68* is found. 

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,  

Doris V - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist