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Excel -- Worksheet Functions -- INDEX / MATCH INDEX Function -- Arguments  INDEX Function -- Example   MATCH Function -- Arguments  MATCH Function -- Example  INDEX/MATCH Function -- Example  INDEX/MATCH Function -- Example 2  INDEX/MATCH Function -- Example 3  INDEX/MATCH Function -- Example 4  Troubleshoot the MATCH function   The INDEX function can return an item from a specific position in a list. The MATCH function can return the position of a value in a list. The INDEX and MATCH functions can be used together, as a flexible and powerful tool for extracting data from a table.

Download the sample INDEX/MATCH workbook

INDEX Function -- Arguments The INDEX function has three arguments: array: Where is the list? If you use an absolute reference ($A$2:$B$4), instead of a relative reference (A2:B4), it will be easier to copy to formula to other cells. Or, name the lookup table, and refer to it by name. row_num: Which row has the value you want returned? In this example, the item in the third row will be returned. [column_num]: Which column has the value you want returned? In this example, the item in the second column will be returned.	A B C D E 1    Small Med Large   2 Sweater 10 12 15   3 Jacket 30 35 40   4 Pants 25 30 35   5           6 Size Item Price     7 Med Pants ?
INDEX Function -- Example The INDEX function can return an item from a specific position in a specific column in a list. For example, what is the 3rd item in the 2nd column in the list at right? Select the cell in which you want the result Type an equal sign, the INDEX function name, and an opening parenthesis:       =INDEX( Select the cells that contain the list -- cells A2:B4 in this example Press the F4 key on the keyboard, to change the reference to an absolute reference: $A$2:$B$4. Then, if you copy the formula to another cell, it will continue to refer to the list of items. Type a comma, to separate the arguments Type the number of the item you want to return -- 3 in this example Type a comma, to separate the arguments Type the number of the column you want to return -- 2 in this example Finish with a closing parenthesis. The completed formula is:       =INDEX($A$2:$B$4,3,2) Press the Enter key to see the result.	A B 1 Item Price 2 Sweater 10 3 Jacket 30 4 Pants 25 5 =INDEX($A$2:$B$4,3,2)
MATCH Function -- Arguments The MATCH function has three arguments: To view the steps in a short video, click here lookup_value: What value do you want to find in the list? You can type the value, or refer to a cell that contains the value. lookup_array: Where is the list? [match_type]: Match_type can be -1, 0, or 1. It tells Excel how to match the lookup_value to values in the lookup_array.  1 -- find the largest value less than or equal to lookup_value          (the list must be in ascending order)  0 -- find the first value exactly equal to lookup_value. Lookup_array          (the list can be in any order) -1 -- find the smallest value greater than or equal to lookup_value.          (the list must be in descending order) Note: If match_type is omitted, it is assumed to be 1.
MATCH Function -- Example The MATCH function can find a value in a list, and return its position. For example, where is "Jacket" in the list at right? Select the cell in which you want the result Type an equal sign, the MATCH function name, and an opening parenthesis:       =MATCH( Type the value to find, or click on the cell that contains the value -- cell A5 in this example Type a comma, to separate the arguments Select the range that contains the list -- a range named ItemList in this example Type a comma, to separate the arguments Type the number for the Match type you want to use -- 0 was used in this example, because an exact match is required. Finish with a closing parenthesis. The completed formula is:       =MATCH(A5,ItemList,0) Press the Enter key to see the result.	A B   1 Item     2 Sweater     3 Jacket     4 Pants     5 Jacket =MATCH(A5,ItemList,0)
INDEX and MATCH -- Example One advantage of the INDEX/MATCH functions is that the lookup value can be in any column in the array, unlike the VLOOKUP function, in which the lookup value must be in the first column. In this example, the MATCH function will find the position of "Jacket" in column B, and the INDEX function will return the code from the same position in column A. Set up the worksheet as shown at right Enter the following formula in cell B6:       =INDEX($A$2:$A$4,MATCH(A6,$B$2:$B$4,0)) Press the Enter key to see the result. The MATCH function, MATCH(A6,$B$2:$B$4,0), returns 2, which is the position of "Jacket" in the list. Then, the INDEX function, INDEX($A$2:$A$4,2), returns "JK002", which is the second item in the range $A$2:$A$4.	A B 1 Code Item 2 SW001 Sweater 3 JK002 Jacket 4 PN001 Pants 5     6 Jacket JK002

INDEX and MATCH -- Example 2 The MATCH function can be used to return values for both the row_num and column_num arguments in the INDEX function. Set up the worksheet as shown at right Enter the following formula in cell C7:       =INDEX($B$2:$D$4,MATCH(B7,$A$2:$A$4,0),MATCH(A7,$B$1:$D$1,0)) Press the Enter key to see the result. The first MATCH function, MATCH(B7,$A$2:$A$4,0), returns 3, which is the position of "Pants" in the Items list. The second MATCH function, MATCH(A7,$B$1:$D$1,0), returns 2, which is the position of "Med" in the Size list. Then, the INDEX function, INDEX($B$2:$D$4,3,2), returns "30", which is the third item in the second column in the range $B$2:$D$4.

A B C D 1   Small Med Large 2 Sweater 10 12 15 3 Jacket 30 35 40 4 Pants 25 30 35 5         6 Size Item Price   7 Med Pants ?

INDEX and MATCH -- Example 3

To make the previous example even more flexible, you can use the INDEX function within the MATCH function, to look for values in the first row or column of a named table. (from a newsgroup posting by Peo Sjoblom) Set up the worksheet as shown at right The green cells are a range named Table). (Instructions on naming a range) Enter the following formula in cell C7:       =INDEX(Table,MATCH(B7,INDEX(Table,,1),0),MATCH(A7,INDEX(Table,1,),0)) Press the Enter key to see the result. The first MATCH function, MATCH(B7,INDEX(Table,,1),0), looks for "Pants" in the first column of the Table range (A1:A4), and returns 4. The second MATCH function, MATCH(A7,INDEX(Table,1,),0), looks for "Med" in the first row of the Table range (A1:D1), and returns 3. Then, the INDEX function, INDEX(Table,4,3), returns "30", which is in the fourth row in the third column in the range named Table.

A B C D 1 Small Med Large 2 Sweater 10 12 15 3 Jacket 30 35 40 4 Pants 25 30 35 5         6 Size Item Price   7 Med Pants ?

INDEX and MATCH -- Example 4 Instead of matching information in column headings, you may need to match information that's stored in the columns, as shown in the table at right. For example, instead of columns headings of Small, Med, and Large, you need to find the price in column D, when Jacket is in column B, and Med is in column C. Set up the worksheet as shown at right Enter the following formula in cell C10:       =INDEX($D$2:$D$7,MATCH(1,(A10=$B$2:$B$7)*(B10=$C$2:$C$7),0)) This is an array formula, so hold Ctrl + Shift, and press the Enter key to see the result. Curly brackets will be automatically added to the formula (don't type them yourself!), so the final result will look like this: {=INDEX($D$2:$D$7,MATCH(1,(A10=$B$2:$B$7)*(B10=$C$2:$C$7),0))} Note: You can adjust the ranges to match the data on your worksheet, but you can't refer to an entire column.

A B C D 1 Code Item Size Price 2 SW001 Sweater Small 10 3 JK001 Jacket Small 30 4 PN001 Pants Small 25 5 SW001 Sweater Med 12 6 JK001 Jacket Med 35 7 PN001 Pants Med 30 8         9 Item Size Price   10 Jacket Med ?

Troubleshoot the MATCH formula

Your MATCH formula may return an #N/A, even though the value you're looking for appears to be in the lookup array. Text vs. Number A common cause for this error is that one of the values is a number, and the other is text. For example, the lookup array may contain '123 (text), and the value to look up is 123 (a number). Or, if you have downloaded data from a database, it may contain text codes with leading zeros, e.g. 00123, and your Excel file may contain numbers formatted with leading zeros. If possible, convert the text to numbers, using one of the methods shown here:       Convert Text to Numbers If you can't convert the data, you can convert the lookup value within the MATCH formula: Lookup values are Text, and the table contains Numbers If the lookup array contains numbers, and the value to look up is text, use a formula similar to the following: =MATCH(--A5,ItemList,0) The double unary (--) converts text to a number, and will work correctly even if the lookup values are numbers. Lookup values are Numbers, and the table contains Text If the lookup array contains text, and the value to look up is numeric, use a formula similar to the following: =MATCH(A5 & ""),ItemList,0) OR =MATCH(TEXT(A5,"00000"),ItemList,0) The TEXT function converts a number to text, and will work correctly even if the lookup values are text. In the first example, the & operator creates a text string from an unformatted number. In the second example, a number formatted with leading zeros (e.g. 00123) would match a text "number" with leading zeros. Spaces in one value, and not the other Another potential cause for no matching value being found is a difference in spaces. One of the values may contain leading spaces (or trailing, or embedded spaces), and the other doesn't. To test the values, you can use the LEN function, to check the length of each value. For example:   =LEN(A5)     will return the number of characters in cell A5. It should be equal to the number of characters in the matching cell in the lookup table. If possible, remove the unnecessary spaces, and the MATCH formula should work correctly. If you can't remove the spaces, use the TRIM function in the MATCH, to remove leading, trailing or duplicate spaces. For example:     =MATCH(TRIM(A5),ItemList,0) HTML characters in one value, and not the other If you copied data from a web page, it may contain non-breaking space (&nbsp) characters. David McRitchie has written a macro to remove them, along with other spaces characters -- http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/join.htm#trimall      Download sample workbook

Worksheet Functions -- Sum Cells   Worksheet Functions -- VLOOKUP   Worksheet Functions -- INDEX / MATCH   Worksheet Functions -- Count Cells   Worksheet Functions -- INDIRECT   Video Tutorials: Worksheet F unctions -- MATCH   Worksheet Functions -- VLOOKUP

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Last updated: May 11, 2009 11:10 PM