{"id":39,"date":"2016-10-21T07:25:38","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T07:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/?p=39"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:54:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:54:43","slug":"search-text-in-multiple-excel-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/search-text-in-documents\/search-text-in-multiple-excel-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Search Text in Multiple Excel Files"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"borko\">\n<div class=\"quick-answer\">\n<h2 class=\"qa\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Quick_answer\"><\/span>Quick answer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Simple search: <a href=\"#1_File_Explorer\">File Explorer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Open File\u202fExplorer and go to your folder.<\/li>\n<li>Click the three\u2011dots icon\u202f(\u2026)\u202f&gt; Options &gt; Search\u202ftab, check \u201cAlways search file names and contents,\u201d then Apply and OK.<\/li>\n<li>In the search bar (top right), type:\u00a0<code>ext:xls* yourkeyword<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Advanced search: <a href=\"#2_SeekFast\">SeekFast<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Install SeekFast. Open it, select your folder, and type your keyword. Results include context.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"borko\">\n<p>In this article, I will explain how to search text in multiple Excel files in Windows.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There are two main methods:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Using the File Explorer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Windows File Explorer is built\u2011in and lets you search all your Excel files from any folder.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Using an external program.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">I have personally tried many third\u2011party search applications. Most of them search <strong>only in the first sheet<\/strong> of the Excel files.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Only a few of them can search within all sheets: SeekFast, File Explorer, Agent\u00a0Ransack, PowerGREP, and Office\u00a0Search, so I'll cover them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I will explain the pros and cons of each searching method. So, let's get started.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_File_Explorer\"><\/span>1. File Explorer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File_Explorer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">File\u00a0Explorer<\/a> is the Windows built\u2011in application for managing and searching your folders and files.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the steps to search text in your Excel documents with File\u00a0Explorer:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"steps\">\n<li>Open File\u202fExplorer and go to the folder you want to search.<\/li>\n<li>Click the three dots (\u2026) in the toolbar and select <strong>Options<\/strong>.\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1786\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-file-explorer-options-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1121\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-file-explorer-options-1.png 1121w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-file-explorer-options-1-300x146.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-file-explorer-options-1-1024x497.png 1024w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-file-explorer-options-1-768x373.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1121px) 100vw, 1121px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the dialog, go to the <strong>Search<\/strong> tab and check the box \u201cAlways search file names and contents.\u201d\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1787\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/always-search-file-names-and-contents-file-explorer-windows-11-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"499\" height=\"595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/always-search-file-names-and-contents-file-explorer-windows-11-1.png 499w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/always-search-file-names-and-contents-file-explorer-windows-11-1-252x300.png 252w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Apply<\/strong>, then <strong>OK<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Enter your keyword in the search bar.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you want to search in Excel files only (.xls and .xlsx), type \u201cext:xls*\u201d followed by the searched words, for example:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>ext:xls* marketing<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1788\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-search-within-excel-files-only-with-file-explorer-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"956\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-search-within-excel-files-only-with-file-explorer-1.png 956w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-search-within-excel-files-only-with-file-explorer-1-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/windows-11-search-within-excel-files-only-with-file-explorer-1-768x350.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 956px) 100vw, 956px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you just need a list of the files containing your keywords, this method is perfect for you.<\/p>\n<p>However, in most of the cases you need to view the context in which the searched words are found, which is not available in File\u00a0Explorer. To view them, you will have to open each file and manually search for the words inside.<\/p>\n<p>File\u00a0Explorer also offers many other convenient options for setting up and filtering the search, such as filtering by date modified, by type of files (photos, videos, music, etc.), file size, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Detailed instructions for their use, as well as much other additional information about searching through File\u00a0Explorer, see in our article on <a href=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/search-text-in-documents\/search-files-in-windows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">searching files in Windows\u00a010<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>Pros:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Windows built\u2011in.<\/li>\n<li>Searches in all sheets within the Excel file.<\/li>\n<li>Possible to choose to work with or without indexing.<\/li>\n<li>Many settings and filters available \u2013 by date, file size, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Cons:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t show the parts of the text containing the searched words.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot search for combinations of words contained in a single sentence.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot sort results by relevance.<\/li>\n<li>The search is slow if you do not turn on the indexing of the file contents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_SeekFast\"><\/span>2. SeekFast<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SeekFast<\/a> is a popular searching tool with easy\u2011to\u2011use interface. It has both free and paid versions, and supports all Windows versions from\u00a07 onward, as well as macOS.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest advantage of SeekFast is its intelligent ranking system, which resembles the search in Google. It allows you to search for words that occur in random order in a sentence in your documents, with the most relevant results ranked at the top.<\/p>\n<p>SeekFast can search in all the sheets of the Excel files.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Searching with SeekFast is pretty easy:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/download-seekfast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a> and run\u00a0SeekFast.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Choose a folder and wait SeekFast to read the files<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1792\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-folder-and-read.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1438\" height=\"484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-folder-and-read.png 1438w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-folder-and-read-300x101.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-folder-and-read-1024x345.png 1024w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-folder-and-read-768x258.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1438px) 100vw, 1438px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Type your keywords in the search bar and press Enter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1793\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-search-keywords.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1438\" height=\"798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-search-keywords.png 1438w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-search-keywords-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-search-keywords-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-search-keywords-768x426.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1438px) 100vw, 1438px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There are several useful features available in the search results:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Click on a sentence to see a larger part of the context.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1794\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-sentence-to-see-preview-of-the-file.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"823\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-sentence-to-see-preview-of-the-file.png 823w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-sentence-to-see-preview-of-the-file-300x152.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-sentence-to-see-preview-of-the-file-768x390.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Click on the file name if you want to open the file.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1795\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-file-name-if-you-want-to-open-the-file.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"823\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-file-name-if-you-want-to-open-the-file.png 823w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-file-name-if-you-want-to-open-the-file-300x152.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-file-name-if-you-want-to-open-the-file-768x390.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Click on the folder path if you want to open the folder containing the file.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1796\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-folder-path-if-you-want-to-open-the-folder-containing-the-file.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"823\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-folder-path-if-you-want-to-open-the-folder-containing-the-file.png 823w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-folder-path-if-you-want-to-open-the-folder-containing-the-file-300x152.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-Click-on-the-folder-path-if-you-want-to-open-the-folder-containing-the-file-768x390.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you want to search in Excel files only, click on the \"Options\" button, then the \"File types\" tab and uncheck all types except Excel documents (.xls,\u00a0.xlsx and\u00a0.xlsxm).<\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1797\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-file-types.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"506\" height=\"252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-file-types.png 506w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-file-types-300x149.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 506px) 100vw, 506px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>SeekFast offers many other useful options, including:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. If you want to select a folder you've already searched, select it from the drop\u2011down menu and SeekFast will read it immediately.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1798\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-a-folder-youve-already-searched.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1312\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-a-folder-youve-already-searched.png 1312w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-a-folder-youve-already-searched-300x101.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-a-folder-youve-already-searched-1024x343.png 1024w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-select-a-folder-youve-already-searched-768x258.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1312px) 100vw, 1312px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. In addition to the default ranking by relevance, you can sort the results by date or by file name.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1799\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-sort-results-option.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"639\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-sort-results-option.png 639w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-sort-results-option-300x186.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. You can choose to make a case\u2011sensitive search as well as exact word search.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1800\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-match-word.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1472\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-match-word.png 1472w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-match-word-300x81.png 300w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-match-word-1024x275.png 1024w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/seekfast-match-word-768x207.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1472px) 100vw, 1472px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>Pros:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Intelligent search \u2013 sorts results by relevance.<\/li>\n<li>Searches tens of thousands of documents in less than a second.<\/li>\n<li>Shows the text excerpts with your keywords.<\/li>\n<li>Searches within all Excel sheets.<\/li>\n<li>Easy\u2011to\u2011use interface.<\/li>\n<li>Has a free version.<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t use indexing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Cons:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The free version can search through up to\u00a050 files only for one search.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Agent_Ransack\"><\/span>3. Agent\u00a0Ransack<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mythicsoft.com\/agentransack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Agent\u00a0Ransack<\/a> is a well\u2011known searching tool, first released in\u00a02000. It is compatible with Windows\u00a07 and higher versions.<\/p>\n<p>Agent\u00a0Ransack has a free version with limited functionality. The main advantages of the paid version are the ability to add indexing, Boolean operators search, and showing larger context.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here are the steps to search in multiple Excel files with Agent\u00a0Ransack:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mythicsoft.com\/agentransack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a>, install, and run the application.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Click on the \"Browse for single folder\" button to choose the folder you want to search in.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-466\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_1.png\" alt=\"Agent\u00a0Ransack browse for single folder to search\" width=\"454\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_1.png 454w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_1-300x188.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. On the \"Containing text\" box, type your keywords and press \"Enter.\"<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-446\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_2.png\" alt=\"Agent\u00a0Ransack type you keywords to search\" width=\"454\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_2.png 454w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_2-300x188.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. In the results section, when you click on a file name the text containing the keywords will be shown in the right pane.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-447\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_3.png\" alt=\"Agent\u00a0Ransack click on a file name to see the text containing the search words\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_3.png 600w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ar_3-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you want to search only in Excel files (.xls\u00a0&amp;\u00a0xlsx), type \"*.xls;*.xlsx\" in the \"File name\" box.<\/p>\n<p>A drawback of Agent\u00a0Ransack is that it reads the folder contents again and again in every single search, which makes searching slower.<\/p>\n<p>An additional inconvenience is that you cannot see the found text immediately \u2013 you have to click on each file to view it.<\/p>\n<h4>Pros:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Has a free version.<\/li>\n<li>Searches through all Excel sheets.<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t use indexing.<\/li>\n<li>Supports many Boolean operators.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Cons:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Very slow search in big folders.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot view all the texts found in one place.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot search for combinations of words.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot sort results by relevance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_PowerGREP\"><\/span>4. PowerGREP<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.powergrep.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PowerGREP<\/a> is shareware software, with a\u00a015\u2011day free trial. It was initially designed to be a Windows equivalent of the very popular UNIX tool <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/software\/grep\/manual\/grep.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grep<\/a>, created to search text in files with the help of regular expressions.<\/p>\n<p>PowerGREP supports Windows\u00a07 or higher.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s see how to search in Excel spreadsheets with this tool:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.powergrep.com\/download.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a> the free trial, install, and run the application.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. In the left pane, from the \"Folders and files\" box, choose the folder to search in.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-454\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_1.png\" alt=\"PowerGREP choose a folder to search\" width=\"546\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_1.png 546w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_1-300x208.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. On the right pane, in the \"Search\" box, type your searched words.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-455\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_2.png\" alt=\"PowerGREP type search words\" width=\"546\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_2.png 546w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_2-300x208.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. On the top toolbar press the \"Search\" button.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-456\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_3.png\" alt=\"PowerGREP press the search button to make the search\" width=\"546\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_3.png 546w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pg_3-300x142.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you want to search in Excel files only, type \"*.xls*\" in the \"Include files\" field in the left pane.<\/p>\n<p>Like the original grep tool, PowerGREP shows the lines of the text where the searched words are found. Also, if you double\u2011click on any result, it will show the whole text of the file.<\/p>\n<h4>Pros:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Shows all the lines containing the keywords from each file in the results section.<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t use indexing.<\/li>\n<li>Searches among all Excel sheets.<\/li>\n<li>Offers many advanced tools and options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Cons:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t have a free version.<\/li>\n<li>Complicated interface.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot open the files found directly.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot search for a combination of words.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot sort results by relevance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Office_Search\"><\/span>5. Office\u00a0Search<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sourceforge.net\/projects\/office-search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Office\u00a0Search<\/a> is free and open\u2011source software for searching text in documents. It supports Windows\u00a07 and above.<\/p>\n<p>The program is easy to use, has a simple interface, and searches within all Excel sheets. However, you cannot view the text found unless you open each file from the results pane.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>These are the steps showing how to search through Excel files with this tool:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/sourceforge.net\/projects\/office-search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a> the application and unzip the archive in any folder.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Navigate to the \"Office\u00a0Search\" folder and run \"OfficeSearch.exe.\"<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Click on the \"Browse\" button to choose the folder for searching.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-451\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_1.png\" alt=\"Office\u00a0Search browse for folder\" width=\"546\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_1.png 546w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_1-300x142.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Click on the \"Include sub\u2011folders\" checkbox if you want to search in subfolders.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-452\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_2.png\" alt=\"Office\u00a0Search choose to search in subfolders\" width=\"546\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_2.png 546w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_2-300x142.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Type your searched words in the \"What to search\" field and press the \"Search\" button.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"li-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-453\" src=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_3.png\" alt=\"Office\u00a0Search type your search words in the What to search field\" width=\"546\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_3.png 546w, https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/os_3-300x142.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. To view the found text, double\u2011click on a file from the results pane and search again in the corresponding program.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you want to search only in Excel files (.xls and .xlsx), type \"*.xls*\" in the \"File pattern\" field.<\/p>\n<p>If you select an entire disk, the program could show you an \"Access denied\" error message, so you will have to choose a specific folder.<\/p>\n<h4>Pros:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Completely free and open source.<\/li>\n<li>Searches in all Excel sheets.<\/li>\n<li>Easy\u2011to\u2011use interface.<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t use indexing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Cons:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t show the parts of the text containing the searched words.<\/li>\n<li>Cannot search for combination of words.<\/li>\n<li>Slow search in big folders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Conclusion\"><\/span>6. Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>These were the best methods and software programs I have found for searching text in multiple Excel files.<\/p>\n<p>There are also other worthy searching tools, but none of them is suitable for searching Excel files because they cannot search in all the sheets (usually they search in the first sheet only). Some of these are: FileSeek, Wise JetSearch, Everything, and UltraSearch.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have any questions or remarks? I will be glad to hear your opinion. Leave a comment below!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_Asked_Questions\"><\/span><strong><!--StartFragment --><span class=\"cf0\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>1. What are the pros and cons of not using indexing when searching Excel files?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Pros:<\/em> <\/strong>no background indexer consuming CPU or disk space; results are always up\u2011to\u2011date.<br \/>\n<strong><em>Cons:<\/em> <\/strong>First searches in new folders are slower as it takes time to read. However, SeekFast remembers recent folders, so repeated searches there are instant. Some tools \u2014 like Agent\u202fRansack when run without indexing \u2014 re\u2011scan the folder for each search, which can take longer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. What does\u202f<code>ext:xls*<\/code>\u202fmean in a File\u00a0Explorer search?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><code>ext:xls*<\/code> limits results to any file whose extension starts with <strong>xls<\/strong>\u2014covering <strong>.xls, .xlsx, .xlsm,<\/strong> and similar Excel formats\u2014so your search skips PDFs, Word docs, and other files.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Will File\u00a0Explorer show sentence\u2011level context for the words it finds?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No. File\u202fExplorer only lists files that match; you still have to open each spreadsheet and use <strong>Ctrl\u202f+\u202fF<\/strong> (or Excel\u2019s \u201cFind and Replace\u201d) to see the exact sentence or cell.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Does File\u00a0Explorer need indexing turned on to search inside Excel sheets?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Indexing makes searches much faster, but it isn\u2019t required. Without it, File\u00a0Explorer still scans all sheets\u2014it just takes longer each time you run a search.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. What\u2019s the fastest tool for searching thousands of Excel workbooks at once?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SeekFast<\/strong> can scan tens of thousands of documents\u2014including every sheet in every Excel file\u2014in under a second and immediately show sentence\u2011level context ranked by relevance.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Is there a free way to get Google\u2011style ranked results when searching Excel files?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes. SeekFast uses an intelligent ranking system similar to Google, putting the most relevant sentences at the top.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. How do I configure SeekFast to search only Excel files?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In SeekFast, click <strong>Options \u2192 File types<\/strong>, uncheck everything except <strong>Excel documents (.xls, .xlsx, .xlsm)<\/strong>, choose your folder, and enter your keywords.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Which search programs look inside every worksheet, not just the first sheet?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The tools confirmed to read all sheets are <strong>File\u00a0Explorer<\/strong>, <strong>SeekFast<\/strong>, <strong>Agent\u202fRansack<\/strong>, <strong>PowerGREP<\/strong>, and <strong>Office\u202fSearch<\/strong>. Many others only read the first sheet.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. Can I use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) when searching Excel files?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes\u2014but only in certain tools. <strong>Agent\u202fRansack<\/strong> (paid version) and <strong>PowerGREP<\/strong> support advanced Boolean or regular\u2011expression queries;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. How can I quickly search for a word across all Excel files in a folder using Windows File Explorer?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Open <strong>File\u202fExplorer<\/strong>, navigate to the folder, click the <strong>three\u2011dots icon\u202f(\u2026) \u2192\u202fOptions \u2192\u202fSearch<\/strong> tab, check <strong>\u201cAlways search file names and contents,\u201d<\/strong> and press <strong>Apply\u202f\u2192\u202fOK<\/strong>. In the top\u2011right search box, type:<\/p>\n<p><code>ext:xls*  yourKeyword<\/code><\/p>\n<p>Windows will scan every sheet inside every\u202f*.xls,\u202f*.xlsx, and\u202f*.xlsm file in that folder and show a list of files containing the keyword.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quick answer Simple search: File Explorer Open File\u202fExplorer and go to your folder. Click the three\u2011dots icon\u202f(\u2026)\u202f&gt; Options &gt; Search\u202ftab, check \u201cAlways search file names and contents,\u201d then Apply and OK. In the search bar (top right), type:\u00a0ext:xls* yourkeyword &nbsp; Advanced search: SeekFast Install SeekFast. Open it, select your folder, and type your keyword. Results [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sf_major_update_date":"2025-07-28","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-search-text-in-documents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":98,"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2998,"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/2998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekfast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}