Search Box in Excel

Article byJeevan A Y
Reviewed byDheeraj Vaidya, CFA, FRM

Creating a Search Box in Excel

The idea of creating a search box in Excel is that we keep writing the required data. Accordingly, it will filter the data and show only that much data. This article will show you how to create a search box and filter the data in Excel.

15 Easy Steps  to Create Dynamic Search Box in Excel

You can download this Search Box Excel Template here – Search Box Excel Template

To create a dynamic search box in Excel. We are going to use the below data. You can download the workbook and follow along with us to make it yourself.

Search Box in Excel Example 1

Follow the below steps to create a dynamic search box in Excel.

  • Step 1: First, create a unique list of “City” names by removing duplicates in a new worksheet.
Search Box in Excel Example 1.6
  • Step 2: For this unique list of cities, give the name “CityList.”
Example 1.7
Search Box in Excel Example 1.1
  • Step 4: Draw this “ComboBox” on the worksheet where the data is.
Example 1.2.0
  • Step 5: Right-click on this “ComboBox” and choose the “Properties” option.
Search Box in Excel Example 1.3
  • Step 6: This will open up the “Properties” options like the below one.
 Example 1.4.0
  • Step 7: We have several properties here. For the property, “LinkedCell” gives a link to cell D2.
Search Box in Excel Example 1.5
  • Step 8: For the “ListFillRange,” property gives the name given to a unique list of “Cities.”
Example 1.8
  • Step 9: For the “Match Entry” property, choose “2-fmMatchEntryNone” as you type the name in the combo box. It will not auto-complete the sentence.
Search Box in Excel Example 1.10
  • Step 10: We are done with the properties part of “ComboBox.” Go to the “Developer” tab and unselect the “Design” mode option of “Combo Box.”
 Example 1.11
Search Box in Excel Example 1.12

We can type the name inside the combo box, which will also reflect inlined cell D2.

 Example 1.13
Search Box in Excel Example 1.14
  • Step 13: In the “Helper 2” column, we need to find the related search city names. If they match, we need the row numbers of those cities for this to insert the below formula.
 Example 1.15

This formula will look for the city name in the main table. It will return the row number from the “Helper 1” column if it matches. Else, it will return an empty cell.

For example, now we will type “Los Angeles,” and wherever the city name is in the main table for those cities, we will get the row number.

Search Box in Excel Example 1.16
  • Step 14: Once the row numbers of the entered or selected city name are available, we need to stick together these row numbers under the other. So, in the third helper column, we must stack all the entered city names row numbers.

To get these row numbers together, we will use the combination formula of the “IFERROR in Excel” and SMALL functions in Excel.

Example 1.16.0

This formula will look for the smallest value in the matched city list based on actual row numbers. It will stack the first smallest, second smallest, third smallest, and so on. Once all the small values are stacked together, the SMALL function throws an error value. So, to avoid this, we have used the IFERROR function. If the error value comes, it will return an empty cell.

  • Step 15: Create an identical table format like the one below.
Search Box in Excel Example 1.17.0

In this new table, we need to filter the data based on the city name we type in the excel search box. We can combine IFERROR, INDEX, and COLUMNS functions in excelCOLUMNS Functions In ExcelThe COLUMNS function returns the total number of columns in the given array or collection of references.read more. Below is the formula you need to apply.

 Example 1.18

Copy the formula and paste it into all the other cells in the new table.

We are done with the designing part. Let us learn how to use it.

Please type the city name in the combo box. Our new table will only filter the entered city-data.

Search Box in Excel Example 1.20

As we can see, we just typed “Lo,” and all the related search results are filtered in the new table format.

Things to Remember here

This article is a guide to the search box in Excel. Here, we discuss creating a dynamic search box in Excel along with an example and downloadable Excel templates. You may also look at these useful functions in Excel: –