The ISNUMBER function in Excel

Q: How do I check if a cell contains specific text?

Use =ISNUMBER(SEARCH("word",A2)). It returns TRUE if "word" appears anywhere in A2, in any capitalization.

ISNUMBER returns TRUE if a value is a number and FALSE for anything else: text, blanks, TRUE/FALSE or errors. It has two big uses. It spots imported "numbers" that are really text, and wrapped around SEARCH it becomes Excel's standard "does this cell contain...?" test, a pattern that comes up often in data-cleaning tasks and interviews.

Syntax

=ISNUMBER(value)

value	The cell or formula to check, like `B2` or `SEARCH("late",C2)`.

Try it yourself

This is a live spreadsheet. Type the formula and press Enter.

In D2, use ISNUMBER with SEARCH to return TRUE if the product description in B2 contains the word "organic", in any capitalization.

	A	B	C	D
1	SKU	Description	Price	Organic?
2	GR-301	Organic oat milk 1L	2.49
3	GR-302	Whole wheat bread	3.1
4	GR-303	Free-range eggs (organic), 12 pack	4.75
5	GR-304	Sparkling water 6 x 500ml	3.99
6	GR-305	Greek yogurt, ORGANIC	2.2
7
8
9

Tip: SEARCH gives a number when it finds the word. Wrap it in ISNUMBER to turn that into TRUE or FALSE.

Examples

=ISNUMBER(B2)→ TRUE

The desk lamp quantity is a real number, so the result is TRUE.

=ISNUMBER(B3)→ FALSE

The 8 looks like a number but was imported as text, so ISNUMBER returns FALSE. This is why some totals come out too low.

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("backorder",C5)),"Delayed","In stock")→ "Delayed"

SEARCH returns a position if it finds the word and an error if it doesn't. ISNUMBER turns that into TRUE or FALSE, and IF turns it into a label.

Example data

1	Item	Qty	Notes
2	Desk lamp	12	Ships from Berlin warehouse
3	Monitor arm	8	Backorder until May
4	USB hub		Discontinued
5	Webcam	25	backorder - supplier delay

Common mistakes

Numbers stored as text
Values pasted from web pages or CSV files are often text, so ISNUMBER returns FALSE and SUM skips them. Convert them with VALUE(B3) or Data > Text to Columns.
Forgetting that dates are numbers
Excel stores dates as serial numbers, so ISNUMBER returns TRUE for a real date. That's handy: FALSE on a date column means the date was typed as text.
Using FIND for a "contains" test
ISNUMBER(FIND("backorder",C3)) is FALSE for "Backorder" because FIND is case-sensitive. Use SEARCH unless capitals really matter.
Checking for blanks with ISNUMBER
An empty cell returns FALSE, but so does text. If you need to know a cell is empty, use ISBLANK(B4) or B4="".

FAQ

How do I check if a cell contains specific text?+

Use =ISNUMBER(SEARCH("word",A2)). It returns TRUE if "word" appears anywhere in A2, in any capitalization.

Why does ISNUMBER return FALSE for a number?+

The number is stored as text, often with a small green triangle in the corner of the cell. Convert it with VALUE or Text to Columns and ISNUMBER will return TRUE.

What's the difference between ISNUMBER and ISTEXT?+

ISNUMBER is TRUE only for numbers (including dates). ISTEXT is TRUE only for text. A blank cell is FALSE for both.

Lesson

Master ISNUMBER step by step: IS functions and SWITCH

Check what's really in a cell with ISBLANK, ISNUMBER and ISTEXT, and turn short codes into labels with SWITCH.

Related functions

SEARCH FIND IF IFERROR