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hi everyone in this video we're going to
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learn how to identify cells that begin
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with specific letters or numbers in
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Excel here's a sample data set that
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we'll be working with today we have a
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list of words in column A and we want to
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find out which words start with the
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letters a we use the left function the
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left function allows us to extract a
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specified number of characters from the
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beginning of a text string in cell B1
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we'll write the formula to check if the
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names in column a start with the letter
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A the formula is shown on the screen the
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formula extracts the first two
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characters from the text string in cell
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A1 and checks if they are equal to AB it
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returns true if they match and false
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otherwise now we'll drag the fill handle
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down to apply this formula to the other
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cells in column b as you can see it
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identifies which names start with AB
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next let's highlight those cells using
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conditional formatting select the range
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in column a go to the Home tab click on
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conditional formatting the new rule
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choose use a formula to determine which
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cells to format and the formula shown on
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the screen click on format choose a font
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color font style and background fill
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color and hit okay now all the names
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that start with AB are highlighted try
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modifying some cells to see how the
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conditional formatting works when you
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enter a word that starts with AB the
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conditional formatting will highlight it
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conversely if you change a word that
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begins with AB the formatting will be
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removed note that our formula is case
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insensitive meaning it checks only the
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characters not their case if you want to
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highlight text that starts with specific
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characters while also matching the case
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use the exact function instead of the
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equal sign the exact function Compares
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two text strings and returns true if
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they are exactly the same and false
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otherwise making it case sensitive
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modify our formula as shown on the
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screen the formula checks if the first
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two characters of the text in cell A1
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are exactly ab and in uppercase it uses
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the left function to extract the first
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two characters and the exact function
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for a case sensitive comparison the
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formula returns true if they match and
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false if they do not next let's modify
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the conditional formatting rule to make
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it case sensitive select the range in
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column A then go to the Home tab click
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on conditional formatting and choose
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manage rules click edit Rule and update
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the formula as shown on the screen now
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when you modify the text in column A
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only the entries that start with ab and
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are in uppercase will be highlighted
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thank you for watching if you found this
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video helpful please give it a thumbs up
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share it with others and subscribe for
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more Excel tutorials if you have any
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questions feel free to write them in the
