Excel IF Cell Contains Text: flag rows with a word in them

=IF(A1="card", ...) only works when the whole cell is exactly “card”. To check whether the word appears anywhere in the cell, you need SEARCH.

The formula

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("card", A1)), "Yes", "No")

How it works

• SEARCH("card", A1) returns the position of “card” inside A1, or an error if it is not there.
• ISNUMBER(...) turns that into TRUE (found) or FALSE (error).
• IF turns TRUE/FALSE into your words.

Steps

1. Text in column A.
2. Click B1, type the formula, Enter, drag down.

Capitals

SEARCH ignores case — “Card” and “card” both match. For an exact-case match use FIND instead of SEARCH.

Point at a cell for the word

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH($D$1, A1)), "Yes", "No")

Either of two words

=IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("card",A1)), ISNUMBER(SEARCH("upi",A1))), "Digital", "Cash")

Count how many rows contain the word

=COUNTIF(A:A, "*card*")

Check it worked

Type “CARD” in capitals in a new row. It should still say Yes.