SEARCH

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

Usage

Use the SEARCH formula with the syntax shown below, it has 2 required parameters and 1 optional parameter:

=SEARCH(search_for, text_to_search, [starting_at])

1. search_for (required):
   The text to search for within the larger string of text.
2. text_to_search (required):
   The larger string of text to search within.
3. starting_at (optional):
   Optional parameter that specifies the character position within the text_to_search to start the search. If this parameter is not specified, the search starts at the beginning of the text_to_search.

Examples

Finding a keyword in a blog post

If you want to find the position of a specific keyword in a blog post, you can use the SEARCH formula to quickly find it. Simply provide the keyword you are looking for and the text of the blog post as input to the formula.

Extracting part of a URL

If you have a list of URLs and want to extract a specific part of the URL, such as the domain name or page title, you can use the SEARCH formula to find the position of the relevant characters in the URL and then use the MID formula to extract them.

Searching for multiple keywords

If you want to search for multiple keywords within a larger string of text, you can use the SEARCH formula in combination with the IF formula to check for each keyword individually. If a keyword is found, you can return a specific value, such as "Yes", and if it is not found, return a different value, such as "No".

Common Mistakes

Using a number instead of a text string

The SEARCH formula requires that both the search_for and text_to_search parameters be text strings. If you accidentally input a number instead of a text string, the formula will return an error.

Forgetting to include a required parameter

Both the search_for and text_to_search parameters are required inputs for the SEARCH formula. If you forget to include one of these parameters, the formula will return an error.

Starting the search at the wrong character

If you specify a value for the optional starting_at parameter that is greater than the length of the text_to_search string, the formula will not return any results. Make sure to verify that the starting character you specify is within the range of the text_to_search string.

Related Formulas

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

• 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.

• REGEXMATCH

  The REGEXMATCH formula searches for a regular expression pattern within a specified text string, and returns a boolean value of TRUE if the pattern is found, and FALSE if it is not found. This formula is commonly used to check if a string matches a certain pattern or to extract specific information from a text string based on a pattern.

• MID

  The MID formula in Google Sheets is used to extract a specific number of characters from a string, starting at a specified point. This is useful when working with large datasets and you only need a portion of the information in a cell. The formula takes in the string to extract from, the starting point, and the length of characters to extract as arguments.

• LEFT

  The LEFT formula is used to extract a specific number of characters from the beginning of a text string. It is most commonly used to extract the first name or last name from a full name or to extract a date from a text string.

• RIGHT

  The RIGHT formula in Google Sheets returns the rightmost characters from a string, based on the number of characters specified. It is commonly used to extract a certain number of characters from the end of a string. The formula takes two arguments: the string from which to extract the characters, and the number of characters to extract.

Learn More

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