Excel formula: Sum if cells contain specific text

Generic formula

=SUMIF(range,"*text*",sum_range)

Explanation

To sum if cells contain specific text, you can use the SUMIF function with a wildcard.

In the example shown, cell G6 contains this formula:

=SUMIF(C5:C11,"*t-shirt*",D5:D11)

This formula sums the amounts in column D when a value in column C contains "t-shirt". Note that SUMIF is not case-sensitive.

How the formula works

The SUMIF function supports wildcards. An asterisk (*) means "one or more characters", while a question mark (?) means "any one character".

These wildcards allow you to create criteria such as "begins with", "ends with", "contains 3 characters" and so on.

To match all items that contain "t-shirt", the criteria is "*t-shirt*". Note that you must enclose literal text and the wildcard in double quotes ("").

Alternative with SUMIFS

You can also use the SUMIFS function. SUMIFS can handle multiple criteria, and the order of the arguments is different from SUMIF. The equivalent SUMIFS formula is:

=SUMIFS(D5:D11,C5:C11,"*t-shirt*")

Notice that the sum range always comes first in the SUMIFS function.

Author

Dave Bruns

Related formulas

Sum if begins with

To sum cells if other cells begin with a specific value, you can use the SUMIF function. In the example shown, cell G6 contains this formula: = SUMIF ( C5:C11 , "t-shirt*" , D5:D11 ) This formula sums the amounts in column D when a value...

Sum if not blank

To sum cells when certain values are not blank, you can use the SUMIF function. In the example shown, cell G6 contains this formula: = SUMIF ( C5:C11 , "<>" , D5:D11 ) This formula sums the amounts in column D only when the value in...

Sum if cells are equal to

If you need to sum numbers based on other cells being equal to a certain value, you can easily do with either the SUMIF or SUMIFS function. In the example shown, we are summing all sales in the West region. The formula in cell H6 is: = SUMIF (...

Sum if cells are not equal to

To sum cells when other cells are not equal to a specific value, you can use the SUMIF function. In the example shown, cell H7 contains this formula: = SUMIF ( region , "<>West" , amount ) This formula sums the amounts in column E...

Sum if equal to either x or y

If you need to sum numbers based on other cells being equal to either one value or another (either x or y), you can use the SUMIF function. In the example show, we are summing all sales from either the West OR North region. The formula in cell H6 is...

SUMIFS with multiple criteria and OR logic

To sum based on multiple criteria using OR logic, you can use the SUMIFS function with an array constant. In the example shown, the formula in H6 is: = SUM ( SUMIFS ( E4:E11 , D4:D11 , { "complete" , "pending" } )) How this...

Related functions

Excel SUMIF Function

SUMIF is a function to sum cells that meet a single criteria. SUMIF can be used to sum cells based on dates, numbers, and text that match specific criteria. SUMIF supports logical operators (>,,=) and wildcards (*,?) for partial matching....

Excel SUMIFS Function

SUMIFS is a function to sum cells that meet multiple criteria. SUMIFS can be used to sum values when adjacent cells meet criteria based on dates, numbers, and text. SUMIFS supports logical operators (>,...

Excel Formula Training

Formulas are the key to getting things done in Excel. In this accelerated training, you'll learn how to use formulas to manipulate text, work with dates and times, lookup values with VLOOKUP and INDEX & MATCH, count and sum with criteria, dynamically rank values, and create dynamic ranges. You'll also learn how to troubleshoot, trace errors, and fix problems. Instant access. See details here.