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Search column A for all instances of words that are in column B

  1. #1
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    Search column A for all instances of words that are in column B

    Hi all,

    I have a list of words in column A, several thousand rows long and I have a list of words in column B which is maybe 150 rows long.

    I am trying to search column A for all instances of words that are in column B and if a word from column B exists in column A I want to copy it to column C or otherwise mark it so I know it's there.

    Any help is appreciated.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Forum Expert martindwilson's Avatar
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    Re: Search column A for all instances of words that are in column B

    to mark it
    select alll cells in range in column a. then use format,conditional format,chose formula is
    an put in "=ISNUMBER(MATCH(A1,B:B,0))" without quotes then click format buton/click patterns tab choose a colour /click ok/click ok.
    or to return them in col c in c1
    =IF(ISNUMBER(MATCH(A1,B:B,0)),A1,"") and drag down

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    Re: Search column A for all instances of words that are in column B

    That works great .. Thanks for the help.

    I forgot to mention that I sometimes have to do the same thing but in Chinese or Japanese. Excel handles these (and many other languages with no problem)

    The issue I have with this is that for example a Japanese word / phrase can be made up of several characters .. Like 東京工業大学 (Tokyo Institute of Technology) is in column A

    So say I want to find all instances of the 東京 (Tokyo) part of the phrase the above method doesn't work.

    To put it another way, If I have only part of the word in column B is it possible to copy & paste the entire contents of the cell in column A that contains this partial word to column C?

    Thanks again for any input.

  4. #4
    Forum Expert martindwilson's Avatar
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    Re: Search column A for all instances of words that are in column B

    can't see those characters !
    however
    =IF(ISNUMBER(MATCH("*"&A1&"*",B:B,0)),A1,"") would find a match for xx in qwertyxxqwerty

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