I have a spreadsheet of contacts. I column "G" is a description, or short biography of each contact. If the description contains the word "volatility" in it, I would like to put an "x", or otherwise flag it, in Column "D" of the same row. How do I do this?
 

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Answer from Richard Rost:

Use the SEARCH or FIND functions to determine if that word is in your cell. If so, you can then use the IF function to put the "X" in the other cell.

SEARCH and FIND are easy to figure out. See Excel's help system for an example.

Here's a tutorial on IF, which is a little more complex:

You can use the IF function to have Excel place a value in a cell based on one or more conditions or values in other cells.

See this FREE tutorial on my web site for more information on how to use the IF function:

http://www.599cd.com/tips/excel/misc/if-function-sales-tax.asp?key=BlFAlEx