Table of Contents
SUMIFS function: Wildcards *
The SUMIFS function can also Sum multiple criteria with matches that are similar but not exact. This can be done with the wildcards * and ?
So if you have John, Paul and Ringo in your Sales Rep list and want to select just John and Ringo, then you would use “*o*” criteria. This means that any name that contains the letter o will be included in your sum.
download workbookSumIfs-Wildcards.xlsx
Here are more examples of how the wildcard characters work:
* | Returns any series of characters before/after the asterisk | |
Begins with… | Glo* | Globex Corporation |
Globo Gym American Corp | ||
Globo-Chem | ||
Ends with… | *tech | Initech |
Primatech | ||
Contains… | *inc* | Acme, inc. |
Demo, inc. | ||
Incom Corporation | ||
Input, Inc. | ||
Sample, inc | ||
? | Returns text that contains one variable | |
Contains… | a?c | ABC Telecom |
Monarch Playing Card Co. | ||
Sombra Corporation | ||
Spade and Archer |
John Michaloudis is a former accountant and finance analyst at General Electric, a Microsoft MVP since 2020, an Amazon #1 bestselling author of 4 Microsoft Excel books and teacher of Microsoft Excel & Office over at his flagship MyExcelOnline Academy Online Course.