conditional formatting - text that contains

[lezawang]

Hi
I have a column which has list of names. I want to highlight only names that start with letter M. So I went to Conditional formatting-->Text contains>> and I typed M hit enter. Excel highlighted for me names like Jim, Kim, Mary and Mike. I only want excel to highlight for me Mary and Mike. I tried Conditional formatting-->Text contains>> and I typed M* but that did not help. I also tried M?
Any idea if that is possible with conditional formatting? Thank you very much.

 

[eduzs]

Use conditional formatting with formula:

=LEFT(A1,1)="M"

 

[Fluff]

Use specific text & begins with

or use a formula

=LEFT(A2)="M"