How to Search in Google Sheets

Searching for specific information can be a hindrance when working with large sheets containing a lot of data. In this guide, I’ll show you how to quickly search in Google Sheets to find any information you need.

Use the Quick Find Tool to Search

You can use the Quick Find Tool shortcut to search in Google Sheets. To use this feature, follow these steps:

1. Press the following key bindings:
   Ctrl + F (for Windows users)
   Cmd + F ( for macOS users)
2. You will notice a search field in the top-right. Enter the text that you want to find in the Find field.

   

3. It will automatically highlight the cells containing the text you entered. Use the arrows next to the text box to navigate through all the highlighted cells.

   

Use the Find and replace tool

You can use the Find and Replace tool to search for a value within a specified section of the sheet and across multiple sheets. Follow these steps:

1. Click on Edit in the top menu and select Find and replace.Alternatively, press Ctrl + H (for Windows users) or Cmd + Shift + H (for macOS users).

   

2. Next to the Find text field, type the text you want to search for. To control which sheet you want to search the text in, click on the Sheets dropdown. You can select All sheets to search for values in the entire workbook. Finally, click on Find.

   

3. Click on the Find button multiple times to navigate through the search results.

   

Use the Conditional Formatting tool

Conditional formatting allows you to highlight cells for the searched text. To use this feature, follow these steps:

1. Go to Format > Conditional Formatting.

   

2. In the “Apply to range” field, enter the range of cells you want to search in, or select the range of cells using your cursor.

   

3. Click OK in the “Select a date range” pop-up.

   

4. Under “Format rules,” click on the Format cells if dropdown and choose Text Contains.

   

5. Enter the text you want to search for in the defined range. Then, click Done.

   

6. You will find the searched text highlighted in the given range.

   

Use Filters to search within a specific column

To search in a particular column, you can use the Filter feature:

1. Go to Data in the top menu, and select Create a filter.

   

   Alternatively, click on Create a filter button from the toolbar.

   

2. Left-click on the filter icon in the header for the column you want to search. For example, I want to search “United States” in the column “Country.”

   

3. Click on the Clear option.

   

4. Type the text you want to search for in that column. Then, press OK.

   

5. You will notice only the searched text in the filtered column.

   

Use the SEARCH function to search within cells

The SEARCH function allows you to search for text within a cell or range of cells. To use this function, follow these steps:

1. Enter the SEARCH function into a cell.

   

2. Enter the text you want to search for within the parentheses. Then, enter the cell or range of cells you want to search. In this example, I’m searching for the “Khosi” in cell G3.

   

3. Hit Enter. The SEARCH function will return the position of the text you are searching for. In our example, if the text is found in the first position, the function will return a value of 1.