Flag Rows Where a Cell Contains Specific Text

Excel & Google Sheets

How it works

You can't test "contains" with A2="rush" — that only matches cells that say exactly rush and nothing else. SEARCH returns the position where the text starts (a number) when it's found, and a #VALUE! error when it isn't. ISNUMBER converts that into a clean TRUE or FALSE, and IF turns it into your two labels. SEARCH ignores case, so "RUSH - client launch" matches too; if capitalization must matter (matching a code like "ID" but not "id"), swap in FIND, which is case-sensitive but otherwise identical.

SEARCH("rush",A2)

Finds where "rush" starts in A2 — a number if present, #VALUE! if not. Case doesn't matter.

ISNUMBER(…)

TRUE when SEARCH found a position, FALSE when it errored — the clean found/not-found test.

"Priority","Standard"

What IF returns for a match and for everything else.

When to use it

Use it to route orders whose notes mention rush or urgent, flag tickets that reference refund, or tag transactions whose descriptions contain a vendor name.

Common mistakes

• ✕Testing A2="rush" and matching almost nothing.

  ✓The = test needs the whole cell to equal rush exactly. For "contains anywhere," you need SEARCH wrapped in ISNUMBER.

• ✕Using FIND and missing capitalized matches.

  ✓FIND is case-sensitive, so it skips "Rush" and "RUSH". Use SEARCH unless case genuinely matters.

• ✕Substring false positives.

  ✓"brush" and "crush" contain "rush" too. If that bites, search for the word with a leading space — SEARCH(" rush",A2) — or match against a fixed list of phrases instead.