Select multiple values from dropdown list

Hello there!

I am a beginner with excel and I had a doubt maybe someone could solve. I have a dropdown list with 7.000+ entries and I wanted to select just some of them. Here is the problem I encountered and my several attempts.

All my entries start with asterisxs " * " some entries have 1 asterisk, some have 2 and some have 3. I wanted to select all of the entries with 2 asterisks. Here is a picture

Dropdown list.jpg

1) My first atempt was to filter them saying: "Choose the ones that begin with "** " (2 asterisks and space). However, excel understands that * means whatever values we find. So basically it chooses everything again.

2) My second attempt was to find the first entry with 2 asterisks and the last one and click CTRL + SHIFT to choose all of the ones in the middle. Apparently it does not let you do that --> Does anyone know a way to click multiple values at once???

3) My third attempt was to find and replace. With this I mean, find all the asterisks " * " and replace them with another key like for example " $ ". The same problem happens like the first point. Excel thinks I mean everything and it changes all my entries for a $

4) My last attempt was to use the MID function to take out the asterisks. Bad idea since I do not have a way to distinguish the different entries since all of them start the same way now.

Any suggestions? I do not know if I made my self clear! If not I can try to answer what ever question you may have.

Thank you in advance

Have a nice day.

Diego