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When you have large volumes of data, it鈥檚 important to be able to flag, filter, and validate text efficiently. By using built-in Google Sheets functions like REGEXMATCH to check whether a piece of text fits a specific pattern, you can check the format of customer entries, filter responses for certain keywords, identify duplicates, and more.

Build your Google Sheets skill set by learning about the REGEXMATCH function, how to use it, and advanced functionality that can help you streamline your workflow.

What is REGEXMATCH?

REGEXMATCH is a function in Google Sheets that checks whether a given cell鈥檚 content matches a specific pattern, known as a 鈥渞egular expression.鈥� If you have a match, the function will return TRUE. Otherwise, the results will be FALSE.

In its most basic form, the REGEXMATCH function is:

=REGEXMATCH(text, regular_expression)

In this formula, the text is the text you鈥檙e looking through for a match. You can either enter the body of text directly or reference the cell in Google Sheets that you want to check. The regular expression is the pattern you鈥檙e trying to find.听

What is an example of a REGEXMATCH?聽

A simple example would be if you entered the expression:聽

=REGEXMATCH(A1, 鈥渉ello鈥�)

With this line of text, you're checking whether cell A1 contains the word hello. If cell A1 only contains the word apple, then your expression would return FALSE. You can increase the complexity of your regular expression to match the start or end of a string, certain digits, alternate matches, and syntax formats like phone numbers or email addresses.

Basic REGEX patterns to know

Understanding basic REGEX patterns can open your search capabilities to more complex patterns, allowing you to unlock the full capabilities of REGEXMATCH. When creating your regular expression, you can combine matching patterns as building blocks to create the expression you鈥檙e looking for. Some patterns to start with include:

• . (dot): Match any single character.听

  • Example: 鈥渃.t鈥� would match 鈥渃at鈥� or 鈥渃ut,鈥� but not 鈥渃art鈥� or 鈥渃t.鈥�

• ^ (carat): Match the start of a string.听

  • Example: 鈥淾T鈥� matches any string starting with 鈥淭,鈥� like 鈥淭iger鈥� or 鈥淭homas.鈥澛�

• $ (dollar sign): Match the end of a string.听

  • Example: 鈥渃om$鈥� matches any text string ending in 鈥渃om,鈥� like websites or email addresses.

• * (star): Match zero or more of the preceding characters.听

  • Example: 鈥渓*ol鈥� would match 鈥渓l,鈥� 鈥渓ol,鈥� 鈥渓ool,鈥� and 鈥渙mg looooool鈥� but not 鈥渓o鈥� or 鈥渓al.鈥澛�

• + (plus sign): Match one or more occurrences of the preceding elements.听

  • Example: 鈥渂a+鈥� would match 鈥渂a鈥� or 鈥渂at,鈥� but not 鈥渁t鈥� or 鈥渁b.鈥澛�

• {n}: Match exactly n occurrences of the character.听

  • Example: 鈥渦{2}鈥� would match 鈥渧acuum鈥� but not 鈥渉um.鈥澛�

• [abc]: Match any one character inside the brackets.听

  • Example: 鈥淸abc]at鈥� would match 鈥渁at,鈥� 鈥渂at,鈥� or 鈥渃at,鈥� but not 鈥渕at.鈥澛�

• (abc): Match multiple characters as a unit.听

  • Example: 鈥�(ha)+鈥� would match 鈥渉a,鈥� 鈥渉aha,鈥� or 鈥渉ahaha.鈥澛�

This isn鈥檛 an exhaustive list, but it鈥檚 a good baseline to start creating your own custom regular expressions. You can combine elements and syntaxes to design creative searches. For example:

=REGEXMATCH(A1, 鈥渂.*g鈥�)

In this function, you鈥檙e matching words starting with 鈥渂,鈥� ending with 鈥済,鈥� and that contain any number of characters in between. The dot indicates a character in between, while combining the dot with the star means you can match with zero or more occurrences of said character in between. So you would return TRUE for 鈥渂g,鈥� 鈥渂ig,鈥� 鈥渂rag,鈥� and so on.

When should you use REGEXMATCH?

You can use REGEXMATCH any time you want to filter, flag, or validate data within your sheet. For example, if you want to filter customer reviews for ones that mention trouble with a product, you could create the function:

=REGEXMATCH(A1, 鈥�(break|fail|error|trouble|broken)鈥�)

The parentheses mean you are grouping words, and the 鈥渱鈥� in between the text strings acts as an 鈥渙r,鈥� allowing the function to return TRUE if any of the options are a match.听

Common examples of when you might use REGEXMATCH include:

• Validating customer email addresses

• Extracting customer phone numbers

• Locating a specific piece of information in your data set (e.g., customer birth date)

• Cleaning data by filtering out invalid entries

• Categorizing data (e.g., inventory management)

How to use REGEXMATCH in Google Sheets

You can build your REGEXMATCH functions with a few simple steps. As you gain confidence with REGEXMATCH, you can move to more advanced combinations of patterns.听

1. Define what you want to match.

Your first step is to understand exactly what you鈥檙e looking for and how to define it. If you鈥檙e looking for customer phone numbers, think about all of the possible formats. You might consider questions like: Are all customer phone numbers from the United States? Do some or all numbers have dashes in between number groups?聽

Try to write down exactly what the options are so you can clearly define your regular expression.

2. Write your REGEXMATCH function.

Next, you鈥檒l use the REGEXMATCH function to locate what you want to match. In one of the cells in your sheet, write =REGEXMATCH(text, regular_expression) and fill in the 鈥渢ext鈥� portion with the cell you want to search. Then, build your regular expression to match what you defined in Step 1.听

You can test your expression on a few cells that you know should return 鈥淭RUE鈥� or 鈥淔ALSE鈥� to check if it鈥檚 working correctly.听

3. Drag your formula to apply to all rows of interest.

Once you know your formula is working, you can click and drag the fill handle down to apply it across a column. This is useful if you want to apply it to multiple rows at once.听

Advanced REGEXMATCH techniques

Once you鈥檙e comfortable building and applying REGEXMATCH functions, you can combine them with other functions to extend capabilities. Conditional formatting and filtering are two common combinations with this function, each of which provides elevated data handling options.听

REGEXMATCH with conditional formatting

You can identify which cells you want to apply a certain function to by combining the IF function with REGEXMATCH. For example, you could write:

=IF(REGEXMATCH(A1, 鈥渃om$鈥�), 鈥淵es鈥�, 鈥淣o鈥�)

This would return 鈥淵es鈥� for entries that end in 鈥渃om,鈥� such as websites or email addresses, and 鈥淣o鈥� otherwise. Based on this, you could create functions that perform an action if the text is a match, and do not otherwise.听

REGEXMATCH with FILTER

You can also use the FILTER function to filter your data set based on whether it matches your regular expression. For example, you might write:

=FILTER(A1:A10, REGEXMATCH(A1:A10, 鈥渃om$鈥�))

This would filter cells A1 to A10 and return only the rows where the text ends in 鈥渃om.鈥� If you want to pull specific data from your database, this can help speed up that process.

Other REGEX functions

REGEXMATCH is one of three REGEX functions, each with its own functionality. All three functions are designed to recognize text patterns, but they do different things with this recognition. Outside of REGEXMATCH, the other two REGEX functions to know include REGEXEXTRACT and REGEXREPLACE.

REGEXEXTRACT

REGEXEXTRACT returns the first match of a pattern from the text. The baseline formula is: 聽

=REGEXEXTRACT(text, regular_expression)

This is similar to that of REGEXMATCH. For example, if cell A1 contained a body of customer information, like name, birth date, email address, and address, you could use REGEXEXTRACT to pull out the ZIP code with a function like:聽

=REGEXEXTRACT(A1, 鈥淸0-9]{5}鈥�)

This formula would match text of exactly five digits and return the first instance.听

REGEXREPLACE

REGEXREPLACE provides a way to replace text based on a regular expression. You would choose to use REGEXREPLACE when you need to alter text based on a specific pattern. The baseline formula is slightly different than other REGEX functions:聽

=REGEXREPLACE(text, regular_expression, replacement)

If you wanted to replace all instances of 鈥渇avourite鈥� with 鈥渇avorite,鈥� you would write:

=REGEXREPLACE(A1, 鈥渇avourite鈥�, 鈥渇avorite鈥�)

Fortunately, using REGEX functions in Google Sheets versus Excel is similar, so once you鈥檙e comfortable creating the Google Sheets functions, you may be able to apply your knowledge to your Excel work as well. Excel functions include REGEXTEST, REGEXTEXTRACT, and REGEXREPLACE.

Common REGEXMATCH issues and alternatives

Something to pay special attention to with REGEXMATCH is that special characters, like 鈥�*鈥� or 鈥�,鈥� typically have a specific meaning within the regular expression. If you want to match these characters, you鈥檒l need to remember to escape them with a backslash. So, if you were trying to match a 鈥�*鈥� in your text, you would need to write 鈥淺*鈥� to tell your formula that you鈥檙e referencing an actual star, rather than using it to symbolize something about your expression. Another common issue is not accounting for case sensitivity. REGEXMATCH, by default, is case-sensitive. If you want to match specific text regardless of capitalization, you may need to standardize your text before applying the function or create a function using the 鈥渙r鈥� to account for different variations.听

You can also make the REGEXMATCH function case-insensitive by using the (?i) flag before the regular expression:

=REGEXMATCH(A1, 鈥�(?i)puppy鈥�)

This formula would return multiple case variations, such as 鈥減uppy,鈥� 鈥淧uppy,鈥� and 鈥淧UPPY.鈥�

Summary of REGEXMATCH steps

Creating your first REGEX function doesn鈥檛 need to be overly complicated. You can start simple, check as you go, and explore different regular expressions to test out new ideas. You can create your function by following these steps:

1. Define what you鈥檙e looking for.

2. Write your REGEXMATCH function by following the regular expression syntax.

3. Check your REGEXMATCH function on a few cells.

4. Expand your function to all the cells you want to search.

5. Combine your function with FILTER and conditional formatting for advanced functions.

Learn more about REGEXMATCH in Google Sheets

REGEXMATCH in Google Sheets is a function that allows you to look for specific patterns within your text. When combined with other functions, you can streamline your workflow effectively and open yourself to using more advanced functions and automations to validate, manipulate, and analyze your data.听

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