How to find and replace tildes and wildcard characters in Excel

Microsoft Excel uses the tilde (~) as a marker to indicate that the next character is a literal. When you use the Find and Replace dialog box to find or replace a character such as a tilde (~), an asterisk (*), or a question mark (?), you must add a tilde (~) before the character in the Find what box.

Note If you want to find or replace a tilde in a worksheet, you must type a double tilde (~~) in the Find what box.

Example 1: How to find and to replace numbers

To replace wildcard characters (*) in a numeric value in a worksheet cell, follow these steps:

1. Type 494** in cell A1.
2. Select cell A1.
3. On the Edit menu, click Replace.
   
   Note In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, click Find & Select in the Editing group on the Home tab, and then click Replace.
4. In the Find what box, type ~*. To do this, press TILDE, and then press ASTERISK.
5. In the Replace with box, type 2.
6. Click Replace.

Cell A1 now reads 49422.

Notes

• When you click Replace All, Excel makes the change throughout the worksheet. When you click Replace, Excel changes only the currently active cell and leave the Replace dialog box open.
• When you type an asterisk without a tilde in the Find what box, Excel replaces all entries with a 2. Excel treats the asterisk as a wildcard character. Therefore, 494** becomes 2.

Example 2: How to find and to replace a tilde

To replace a tilde in an Excel worksheet cell, follow these steps:

1. Type Micros~1.xls in cell A1.
2. Select cell A1.
3. On the Edit menu, click Replace.
   
   Note In Excel 2007, click Find & Select in the Editing group on the Home tab, and then click Replace.
4. In the Find what box, type ~~.
5. In the Replace with box, type oft.
6. Click Replace All.

Cell A1 now reads Microsoft1.xls.