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Wildcard characters are special symbols that can be used in a Google Sheets query to represent one or more unknown characters in a search term. These characters can be used to make your search more flexible and inclusive, as they can match a variety of different values. To use wildcard characters in a Google Sheets query, you can simply add an asterisk (*) as a placeholder for any unknown characters in your search term. This will allow you to search for patterns or partial matches within your data, making your query more efficient and effective. Additionally, you can also use a question mark (?) to represent a single unknown character. By utilizing wildcard characters in your Google Sheets query, you can easily filter and sort through large sets of data to find the specific information you need.
Use Wildcard Characters in Google Sheets Query
You can use the % sign as a wildcard character in Google Sheets queries:
Method 1: Return Cells That Start with Certain Characters
=QUERY(A1:A10, "Select A where A like 'hello%'")
Method 2: Return Cells That End with Certain Characters
=QUERY(A1:A10, "Select A where A like '%hello'")
Method 3: Return Cells That Contain Certain Characters
=QUERY(A1:A10, "Select A where A like '%hello%'")
The following examples show how to use each method in practice.
Method 1: Return Cells That Start with Certain Characters
We can use the following formula to return every cell in column A that starts with ‘We’:
=QUERY(A1:A10, "Select A where A like 'We%'")
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula:
Method 2: Return Cells That End with Certain Characters
We can use the following formula to return every cell in column A that ends with ‘th’:
=QUERY(A1:A10, "Select A where A like '%th'")
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula:
Method 3: Return Cells That Contain Certain Characters
We can use the following formula to return every cell in column A that contains ‘ou’ somewhere within the string:
=QUERY(A1:A10, "Select A where A like '%ou%'")
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula:
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common queries in Google Sheets:
Cite this article
stats writer (2024). How can I use wildcard characters in a Google Sheets query?. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/stats/how-can-i-use-wildcard-characters-in-a-google-sheets-query/
stats writer. "How can I use wildcard characters in a Google Sheets query?." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 15 May. 2024, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/stats/how-can-i-use-wildcard-characters-in-a-google-sheets-query/.
stats writer. "How can I use wildcard characters in a Google Sheets query?." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2024. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/stats/how-can-i-use-wildcard-characters-in-a-google-sheets-query/.
stats writer (2024) 'How can I use wildcard characters in a Google Sheets query?', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/stats/how-can-i-use-wildcard-characters-in-a-google-sheets-query/.
[1] stats writer, "How can I use wildcard characters in a Google Sheets query?," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, May, 2024.
stats writer. How can I use wildcard characters in a Google Sheets query?. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2024;vol(issue):pages.