REGEXMATCH

• How to use REGEXMATCH formula?
• Examples of using REGEXMATCH formula
• REGEXMATCH formula not working?
• Similar formulas to REGEXMATCH

Usage

Use the REGEXMATCH formula with the syntax shown below, it has 2 required parameters:

=REGEXMATCH(text, regular_expression)

1. text (required):
   The text string to search for the regular expression pattern.
2. regular_expression (required):
   The regular expression pattern to search for within the text string. The pattern must be enclosed in quotes.

Examples

Checking if a string contains a specific pattern

You can use REGEXMATCH to check if a string contains a certain pattern of characters. For example, you can use this formula to check if an email address is in a valid format by searching for the '@' symbol.

Extracting specific information from a text string

You can use REGEXMATCH to extract specific information from a text string that matches a certain pattern. For example, you can use this formula to extract all the URLs from a list of text that contains URLs by searching for the 'http' or 'https' pattern.

Validating data entry

You can use REGEXMATCH to validate data entry in a form or spreadsheet by checking if the input matches a certain pattern. For example, you can use this formula to check if a phone number is in a valid format by searching for a pattern of digits and dashes.

Common Mistakes

Using incorrect syntax for the regular expression

One common mistake when using REGEXMATCH is using incorrect syntax for the regular expression. Make sure that your regular expression is formatted correctly and follows the correct syntax for regular expressions.

Forgetting to enclose the regular expression in quotes

Another common mistake when using REGEXMATCH is forgetting to enclose the regular expression in quotes. Make sure that your regular expression is enclosed in quotes, otherwise it will not be recognized as a string.

Not escaping special characters in the regular expression

If your regular expression contains special characters, such as parentheses or brackets, you need to escape them with a backslash. Otherwise, the regular expression will not work as intended.

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to REGEXMATCH or are often used with it in a formula:

• REGEXEXTRACT

  The REGEXEXTRACT formula is used to extract a portion of a text string that matches a regular expression. This is useful when you need to extract specific information from a text string that follows a certain pattern.

• REGEXREPLACE

  The REGEXREPLACE formula is used to replace a piece of text that matches a regular expression with a new piece of text. This formula is useful when working with text data that needs to be cleaned or manipulated based on specific patterns or rules.

• MATCH

  The MATCH formula is used to search for a specified value within a range and returns the relative position of the value within the range. This formula is commonly used in conjunction with the INDEX formula to retrieve a value from a specific cell in a range. The search_type parameter is optional and determines the type of match to be performed, such as exact match, less than, or greater than.

• FIND

  The FIND formula in Google Sheets searches for a specific text within another text and returns the position of the first occurrence of the text. This formula is often used to extract a substring from a larger string or to check if a certain text exists within another text.

Learn More

You can learn more about the REGEXMATCH Google Sheets function on Google Support.