What is wildcards in Google Sheets?
Wildcards is lookup vocabulary: how MATCH, VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, FILTER, and QUERY decide which row or value to return. Exact vs approximate match and wildcard rules change outcomes more than beginners expect.
When to use it
Use this jargon when configuring lookups, criteria ranges, or match modes so the right row comes back.
When to skip it
Skip manual match-mode tuning when FILTER or QUERY with clear column conditions is easier to maintain.
Better Sheets resources
Related Tutorials
Watch how wildcards works
Google Sheets Easter Eggs Beyond PRIDE
200 REGEXMATCH Examples in Google Sheets
Study Better With Google Sheets
How to Iterate Counting Blank Cells in Google Sheets
Search Every Function in Google Sheets
Related blog posts
Guides that explain wildcards in more depth.
Extract URLs from Google Sheets
Extract url from hyperlink google sheets.Skip the Command K. This Google Sheet tutorial will make it easier for you to extract URLS from Google Sheets.
Read post →Philippines Phone Number Validation: Use of REGEXMATCH in Google Sheets
Every school year thousands of students and teachers’ data were being added to the school database. As someone who was always given the task to narrow down lots of information after the school enrollment, validating students’ data manually is very exhausting. Take this as an example, when you ask students to include the phone numbers of their emergency contact person, there are some instances wherein the declared numbers were invalid due to human error. And the assigned personnel during enr...
Read post →How to Use Google Sheets for Advanced Project Management
Master Google Sheets for project management with these advanced tips. Check our free tutorials, tools, and templates for data management, task flow, and much more.
Read post →Related terms
MATCH
MATCH searches a range for a value and returns its relative position. Feeding INDEX or OFFSET with MATCH replaces brittle column index math. Sorted approximate match modes support tier tables and date brackets.
Read guide →INDEX
INDEX fetches a value from a range by row and column number. Combined with MATCH it powers flexible lookups. Alone it picks nth items from lists, dynamic headers, or matrix intersections without VLOOKUP column limits.
Read guide →VLOOKUP
VLOOKUP searches the first column of a range for a key and returns a value from a specified column to the right. It is still everywhere in legacy templates even as XLOOKUP offers more flexible replacements.
Read guide →XLOOKUP
XLOOKUP searches a lookup array for a key and returns a matching value from a return array. It handles left lookups, approximate match, and custom not-found text without INDEX/MATCH gymnastics.
Read guide →Done reading about wildcards?
Membership unlocks 637+ tutorials, unlimited generators, and every template. Practical lessons. Zero fluff.
Need this once
Jump to a free tool or a single tutorial for this topic.
Learning Sheets for real
Unlock the full library, generators, and templates with membership.