Forum Discussion
Find can't "see" numbers stored as text
I need to work with an institutional spreadsheet (in other words, I can't change it) that has a column that includes numbers stored as text. If I type, for example, "406731" (without the quotes) in the Find What box of the Find dialog, it doesn't find the text string 406731. How can I search for numbers stored as text? Is there a way to tell Find to look for the characters 406731?
All the results I've found by Googling around have been about dealing with the problem of numbers stored as text: how to find all such within a spreadsheet and convert them and so forth. But I need something different: how to know if a specific string of numerals (stored as text) occurs within the spreadsheet.
Excel can locate it either way. Make sure you're not looking for a Format in addition to the number.
9 Replies
Thanks, PReagan, Twifoo , Patrick2788 , and SergeiBaklan , all good suggestions. With some embarrassment, I have to admit that I can't reproduce this. The only thing I can think is that I inadvertently had a range of cells selected. I marked Patrick2788 's as the best response for the "Excel can locate it either way" part.
Glad you found the solution. Next time it comes up you won't forget it. It's a great way to learn!
I'm surprised why you can't reproduce no one of the suggestions, perhaps we misunderstood your question?
SergeiBaklan My question concerned using the Excel "Find" command to find a certain number stored as text; I thought the command didn't work. When I tried again after reading the responses, the find command did find my search term, whether it was stored as text or as a number.
Excel can locate it either way. Make sure you're not looking for a Format in addition to the number.
- Try including wildcards as your search criteria, like this:
*406731* Hello Paul_Robinson,
Be sure that "Match entire cell contents" is disabled.
Press Ctrl+F > Options > Uncheck "Match entire cell contents"
