The search box feature is a function on excel that is used to search anything on the workbook. This feature plays a huge role in the excel world as the user does not have to search a given word line after line. Apart from using the search function, one can create a search box that can serve the same function as excel's search function.
This article will explain how to create your search box using the following super easy steps.
1. Open a new or existing spreadsheet
Double click the Excel app icon, which resembles a green with a white "X" on it. And then, open either a new document or an existing document on your device to which you want to add the search box.
2. Click the conditional formatting button
On the Page ribbon, click on the home tab. Within the Home section, locate and click on the conditional formatting button. This button has a drop-down setting that has various features.
3. Click on the New Rule Button
On the drop-down setting, click the new rule button to open the formatting dialogue box.
4. In the dialogue box
After clicking the new rule button, a formatting dialogue box is displayed.
Firstly, on this dialogue box, select the type of rule. In our case, click on the "use a formula to determine which cells to format" option.
This is so because we will come up with a formula responsible for creating our search box. Then, enter the search box formula into the Format values where this is a true box.
The formula should indicate where the search box will be located on your workbook page. That is, you should indicate the column and row index in the formula. The formula entered is not case sensitive, and therefore any capitalization can be used.
You need to customize this formula=ISNUMBER(SEARCH($B$2,A5)) with your own values
Secondly, click the format button. This button is located on the rightmost side immediately after the box which has the search box formula. This opens the format cells dialogue box. On this dialogue box, specify the color, font, style, and the searched value border. Then, click "ok" to save changes.
Finally, click the "ok" button on the New Formatting Rule dialogue box. And by doing so, your search box will be ready for use.
When using the created search box, type the word you're searching within the search box and then press the Enter key. All matching words in the specified range are searched out, and they are highlighted immediately using the selected color and font.