In this tutorial, you will learn how to use VLOOKUP if cell contains word within text in Excel.
In a cell of a dataset or table in Microsoft Excel, we occasionally need to search for various types of data pertaining to a particular word or piece of information within the text. The VLOOKUP function makes it simple to locate that word in the table and extract information about the cell value that contains it.
Once you are ready, we can start by using real-life scenarios to help you understand how to use VLOOKUP if cell contains word within text in Excel.
Table of Contents
Anatomy of VLOOKUP Function
=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_number,[range_lookup])
Vertical Lookup is referred to as VLOOKUP. VLOOKUP is a built-in Excel function that, as its name implies, enables you to find a specific value by looking for it vertically across the sheet.
Use VLOOKUP if Cell Contains Word within Text
Before we begin we will need a group of data to be used to use VLOOKUP if cell contains word within text in Excel.
Step 1
First, you need to have a clean and tidy group of data to work with.

Step 2
In this example, we will look for the key word “water” to find the number of units left. In order to find a specific word in the cells, we will use the VLOOKUP. We will insert the following formula =VLOOKUP(“*”&B6&”*”,A1:B4,2,FALSE).

Step 3
Once we are done, you can perform VLOOKUP if the cell contains words within the text.
