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How to sum if a cell contains specific text in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:IF, IFS & nested conditionsExcel & Google Sheets
=SUMIF(A2:A6,"*Pro*",B2:B6)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Product | Revenue |
| ProMax | 400 |
| Lite | 150 |
| ProLite | 250 |
| Basic | 100 |
| ProPlus | 300 |
=SUMIF(A2:A6,"*Pro*",B2:B6)→950
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Step by step
- 1Identify the text column (e.g. A) and the values column to sum (e.g. B).
- 2Enter =SUMIF(A2:A6,"*Pro*",B2:B6). The asterisks are wildcards matching any characters before or after "Pro".
- 3Press Enter. Rows where column A contains the substring "Pro" anywhere contribute their B value to the total.
Tips
- SUMIF wildcards: * matches any sequence of characters, ? matches exactly one character.
- To build the criteria dynamically from a cell (e.g. D1), concatenate: =SUMIF(A2:A6,"*"&D1&"*",B2:B6).
- Wildcard matching is case-insensitive in both Excel and Google Sheets.
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Frequently asked
Can I use SUMIF to sum if the cell starts with specific text?
Yes — use a trailing wildcard only: =SUMIF(A2:A6,"Pro*",B2:B6) matches cells that start with "Pro".
What if the text to find contains an asterisk or question mark literally?
Escape literal wildcards with a tilde: "~*" matches a literal asterisk, "~?" matches a literal question mark.
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