Excel Text Filter for Multiple Words: How It Works

To filter Excel text for multiple words, open the column’s filter menu and choose Text Filters > Custom Filter. Set the first condition to “contains,” enter a word, choose And to require a second word or Or to accept either word, then enter the second word and select OK.

What Excel means by filtering multiple words

A text filter decides which rows remain visible based on text in one column. If a description might contain “red” and “large,” an AND filter keeps rows whose description contains both strings. An OR filter keeps rows containing “red,” “large,” or both. The distinction matters: choosing the wrong connector can change the results substantially.

Excel’s built-in custom text filter is convenient for two conditions on a single column. It checks whether the cell contains the text you enter; it does not require the words to be adjacent or in a particular order. A cell such as “Large cotton shirt in red” can therefore meet both conditions for “red” and “large.”

These filters are generally not case-sensitive. “RED” can match “red,” for example. “Contains” also looks for a sequence of characters within the cell, not necessarily a complete word. Searching for “art” can match “artist” or “carton.” If you need whole-word matching, use a formula or a more carefully designed search condition rather than assuming Contains checks word boundaries.

Apply an AND filter for words that must all appear

In Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, start with a headed table or a contiguous range of data, then turn on filtering from Data > Filter. You can also use the Windows shortcut Ctrl+Shift+L to toggle filters for the selected range. Click the drop-down arrow in the column you want to search, then use Text Filters to open a custom text-filter dialog.

Choose Text Filters > Custom Filter. In some builds, choosing an option such as Contains opens the same Custom AutoFilter dialog directly.
Set the first condition to contains and type the first word or phrase.
Select the And option between the two condition rows.
Set the second condition to contains, enter the other word or phrase, and select OK.

For example, use “red” in the first condition and “large” in the second, joined by And, to show descriptions containing both terms. A row with “large red mug” remains visible; “red mug” and “large mug” do not. The terms can appear anywhere in the same cell, and their order does not matter.

Filtering hides rows that do not meet the criteria; it does not delete or rearrange the underlying records. To see all rows again, use the column’s filter menu to clear its filter, or use Data > Clear to clear filters across the range. The exact menu wording can vary slightly by Excel build.

Use OR when either word is enough

If the goal is to show a row when either term appears, follow the same steps but choose Or between the two conditions. For example, searching for “refund” OR “return” in a Notes column keeps rows containing either word, including rows containing both. This is useful for gathering related categories that people may describe in different ways.

Be precise about the logic. AND means every condition must be true for a row to remain visible; OR means at least one must be true. A frequent mistake is to choose And when looking for alternative terms. That can produce few or no results when the descriptions normally use one label or the other, rather than both.

The custom text-filter dialog provides two condition rows. It is a good fit for a short two-term search, but not for a long list of keywords. For more terms, use a helper column or a formula-based approach, described below.

Filter the drop-down search box versus a text condition

The search box inside a filter menu can look like a way to search the column, but it serves a different purpose from a custom Contains condition. A column filter menu lists distinct values to include or exclude; its search field helps locate entries in that list. It is useful when you want to select particular complete values, such as a specific department or status.

By contrast, a custom text condition checks the contents of each cell for a character sequence. If one cell says “West region — large red orders,” searching the distinct-value list is not the same task as asking Excel to retain every cell that contains both “red” and “large.” Choose Text Filters for substring rules. Choose the checklist when you know which listed values you want to show.

When searching a long checklist, Excel may display matching items for selection, but selecting one listed value is still a value-selection filter, not a rule that combines multiple contains tests. If results look unexpectedly narrow, reopen the filter menu and inspect whether you applied a text condition or selected specific checklist entries.

Use a helper column for three or more words

A helper column makes longer keyword rules easier to inspect and edit. Suppose descriptions are in A2:A100, with one record per row. Put a heading such as “Matches all terms” in B1. In B2, enter this formula to test whether A2 contains both “red” and “large”:

=AND(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("red",A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH("large",A2)))

Fill the formula down through B100, then filter the helper column to show TRUE. SEARCH returns a position when it finds text and an error when it does not; ISNUMBER converts that result into TRUE or FALSE, and AND requires both tests to be true. For the example text “large red mug,” the formula returns TRUE. For “red mug,” it returns FALSE. SEARCH is not case-sensitive.

To require three terms, add another ISNUMBER(SEARCH(…)) test inside AND. To accept any of several terms, use OR instead. With descriptions in A2:A100, this version returns TRUE if A2 contains “refund” or “return”:

=OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("refund",A2)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH("return",A2)))

A helper column is especially useful when the search list changes, when you need to see why each row passed, or when several people must understand the rule. You can replace the terms in the formula, copy it down, and filter TRUE or FALSE. If a term is stored in another cell, reference that cell inside SEARCH instead of typing the term into the formula.

Return matching rows with FILTER

If you want a separate live result list rather than hiding rows in the source data, the FILTER function can return records that satisfy the conditions. This function is available in Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021 or later. With descriptions in A2:A100 and complete records in A2:C100, enter the following in an empty area of the sheet:

=FILTER(A2:C100,(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("red",A2:A100)))*(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("large",A2:A100))),"No matches")

The multiplication combines the two TRUE/FALSE tests as an AND condition, so a row is returned only when both terms appear in its description. If the range contains “large red mug,” that record is returned; a row containing only “red mug” is excluded. If no row qualifies, the formula displays “No matches.” The returned list spills into neighboring cells, so keep the output area clear. This formula creates a separate result; it does not apply a filter to the original table.

For a rule that accepts either term, replace the multiplication between the tests with addition and compare the result with a value greater than zero. For instance, the include argument can be written as ((ISNUMBER(SEARCH("refund",A2:A100)))+(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("return",A2:A100)))>0). This treats either successful search as a match. Keep the source and include ranges the same height, and place the formula outside the range it is filtering to avoid a circular reference.

Common matching problems and how to fix them

No rows appear: Check whether the terms are joined with And even though each record contains only one of them. Also check spelling, extra spaces in the source, and whether the intended column is the one being filtered.
Unexpected rows appear: Contains can match part of a longer word. Searching for “art” can match “artist.” Use a more specific phrase or a formula designed to check word boundaries if partial matches are unacceptable.
Only some records are included: Check for inconsistent wording, such as “colour” versus “color,” abbreviations, or terms stored in a different column. A filter cannot infer that two different spellings mean the same thing.
Rows seem missing after editing: Reapply or clear the filter, and confirm that new records are part of the filtered table or range. Excel tables generally expand when data is added directly beneath them, but a separately selected range may not include later rows.
Results differ from expectations with formulas: SEARCH is case-insensitive and searches for substrings. Also confirm that a helper formula was filled through every data row and that the filter is applied to the helper column’s TRUE values.

Blank cells normally do not satisfy a nonempty Contains condition. If your data includes errors, formulas, or mixed types, check a few actual cells as well as the displayed values. For example, a cell may look like a word because a formula returns it, while its underlying formula or error state affects a different kind of test.

Windows, Mac, and Excel for the web

The directions above target Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows. On Mac, the filter controls are available from the Data tab, and the column drop-down offers text-filter options; follow the same And/Or logic. The keyboard shortcut for toggling filters can differ by Mac keyboard and Excel version, so use Data > Filter if a shortcut does not work. On Windows, Ctrl+Shift+L is the standard toggle shortcut.

Excel for the web also supports filtering tables and ranges, though the layout of menus can differ from desktop Excel. If a particular custom-filter option is not visible in the web interface, open the workbook in the desktop app and use the custom text-filter dialog or a helper formula. Formula results and filter states may be visible across versions, but editing controls are not identical in every interface.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Excel filter for two words in the same cell?
Yes. Use a custom text filter with two Contains conditions joined by And to require both words in one cell. Use Or if either word should qualify.

Can Excel search for more than two words?
The standard custom text-filter dialog is designed for two conditions. For three or more terms, create a helper column with an AND formula for required terms or an OR formula for alternatives, then filter its TRUE results.

Does Excel’s text filter distinguish uppercase and lowercase?
No. The built-in text-filter conditions are not case-sensitive. The SEARCH function used in the examples is also case-insensitive; use FIND instead when a formula must distinguish case.

Can I filter for an exact word instead of part of a word?
Contains searches for text within a cell, so it may match a longer word. It does not automatically enforce whole-word boundaries. A formula can be designed for whole-word checks, but the right formula depends on the separators and punctuation used in your data.

Will filtering delete rows that do not match?
No. A filter hides nonmatching rows from view. Clear the filter to show them again; use a separate result formula or copy visible rows if you need a distinct list.

Why does the filter show no matches when the words are present?
Check the AND/OR choice, the selected column, spelling, and whether the words are actually in the same cell. Also clear other active filters, since a filter on another column can further restrict the visible rows.

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Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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