Sue wrote...
I would like the formula below to retrieve and return any entry
within a
list (in excel) that begins with [or contains] the text "CL"..(in
this
instance) - if there is nothing it returns a blank..

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCHB("CL",B5,1)),B5,"")

However I can only get it to search 1 cell at a time (and only in
cells
below that cell ref (ie: B5), not above it). Is it possible to
replace the cell
value with a range (ie: B:B)...so it searches more extensively?

or is there something better that will do the trick?

Perhaps you mean something like

=IF(COUNTIF($B$5:$B$1000,"*CL*"),
VLOOKUP("*CL*",$B$5:$B$1000,1,0),"")
---------
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