Matching and indexing in excel

This article explains in simple terms how to use INDEX and MATCH together to perform lookups. It takes a step-by-step approach, first explaining INDEX, then MATCH, then showing you how to combine the two functions together to create a dynamic two-way lookup. There are more advanced examples further down the page.

INDEX function | MATCH function | INDEX and MATCH | 2-way lookup | Left lookup | Case-sensitive | Closest match | Multiple criteria | More examples

The INDEX Function

The INDEX function in Excel is fantastically flexible and powerful, and you’ll find it in a huge number of Excel formulas, especially advanced formulas. But what does INDEX actually do? In a nutshell, INDEX retrieves the value at a given location in a range. For example, let’s say you have a table of planets in our solar system (see below), and you want to get the name of the 4th planet, Mars, with a formula. You can use INDEX like this:

=INDEX(B3:B11,4)

INDEX returns the value in the 4th row of the range.

Video: How to look things up with INDEX

What if you want to get the diameter of Mars with INDEX? In that case, we can supply both a row number and a column number, and provide a larger range. The INDEX formula below uses the full range of data in B3:D11, with a row number of 4 and column number of 2:

=INDEX(B3:D11,4,2)

INDEX retrieves the value at row 4, column 2.

To summarize, INDEX gets a value at a given location in a range of cells based on numeric position. When the range is one-dimensional, you only need to supply a row number. When the range is two-dimensional, you’ll need to supply both the row and column number.

At this point, you may be thinking «So what? How often do you actually know the position of something in a spreadsheet?»

Exactly right. We need a way to locate the position of things we’re looking for.

Enter the MATCH function.

The MATCH function

The MATCH function is designed for one purpose: find the position of an item in a range. For example, we can use MATCH to get the position of the word «peach» in this list of fruits like this:

=MATCH("peach",B3:B9,0)

MATCH returns 3, since «Peach» is the 3rd item. MATCH is not case-sensitive.

MATCH doesn’t care if a range is horizontal or vertical, as you can see below:

=MATCH("peach",C4:I4,0)

Same result with a horizontal range, MATCH returns 3.

Video: How to use MATCH for exact matches

Important: The last argument in the MATCH function is match_type. Match_type is important and controls whether matching is exact or approximate. In many cases you will want to use zero (0) to force exact match behavior. Match_type defaults to 1, which means approximate match, so it’s important to provide a value. See the MATCH page for more details.

INDEX and MATCH together

Now that we’ve covered the basics of INDEX and MATCH, how do we combine the two functions in a single formula? Consider the data below, a table showing a list of salespeople and monthly sales numbers for three months: January, February, and March.

Let’s say we want to write a formula that returns the sales number for February for a given salesperson. From the discussion above, we know we can give INDEX a row and column number to retrieve a value. For example, to return the February sales number for Frantz, we provide the range C3:E11 with a row 5 and column 2:

=INDEX(C3:E11,5,2) // returns $5194

But we obviously don’t want to hardcode numbers. Instead, we want a dynamic lookup.

How will we do that? The MATCH function of course. MATCH will work perfectly for finding the positions we need. Working one step at a time, let’s leave the column hardcoded as 2 and make the row number dynamic. Here’s the revised formula, with the MATCH function nested inside INDEX in place of 5:

=INDEX(C3:E11,MATCH("Frantz",B3:B11,0),2)

Taking things one step further, we’ll use the value from H2 in MATCH:

=INDEX(C3:E11,MATCH(H2,B3:B11,0),2)

MATCH finds «Frantz» and returns 5 to INDEX for row.

To summarize:

1. INDEX needs numeric positions.
2. MATCH finds those positions.
3. MATCH is nested inside INDEX.

Let’s now tackle the column number.

Two-way lookup with INDEX and MATCH

Above, we used the MATCH function to find the row number dynamically, but hardcoded the column number. How can we make the formula fully dynamic, so we can return sales for any given salesperson in any given month? The trick is to use MATCH twice – once to get a row position, and once to get a column position.

From the examples above, we know MATCH works fine with both horizontal and vertical arrays. That means we can easily find the position of a given month with MATCH. For example, this formula returns the position of March, which is 3:

=MATCH("Mar",C2:E2,0) // returns 3

But of course we don’t want to hardcode any values, so let’s update the worksheet to allow the input of a month name, and use MATCH to find the column number we need. The screen below shows the result:

A fully dynamic, two-way lookup with INDEX and MATCH.

=INDEX(C3:E11,MATCH(H2,B3:B11,0),MATCH(H3,C2:E2,0))

The first MATCH formula returns 5 to INDEX as the row number, the second MATCH formula returns 3 to INDEX as the column number. Once MATCH runs, the formula simplifies to:

=INDEX(C3:E11,5,3)

and INDEX correctly returns $10,525, the sales number for Frantz in March.

Note: you could use Data Validation to create dropdown menus to select salesperson and month. 

Video: How to do a two-way lookup with INDEX and MATCH

Video: How to debug a formula with F9 (to see MATCH return values)

Left lookup

One of the key advantages of INDEX and MATCH over the VLOOKUP function is the ability to perform a «left lookup». Simply put, this just means a lookup where the ID column is to the right of the values you want to retrieve, as seen in the example below:

Read a detailed explanation here.

Case-sensitive lookup

By itself, the MATCH function is not case-sensitive. However, you use the EXACT function with INDEX and MATCH to perform a lookup that respects upper and lower case, as shown below:

Read a detailed explanation here.

Note: this is an array formula and must be entered with control + shift + enter, except in Excel 365.

Closest match

Another example that shows off the flexibility of INDEX and MATCH is the problem of finding the closest match. In the example below, we use the MIN function together with the ABS function to create a lookup value and a lookup array inside the MATCH function. Essentially, we use MATCH to find the smallest difference. Then we use INDEX to retrieve the associated trip from column B.

Read a detailed explanation here.

Note: this is an array formula and must be entered with control + shift + enter, except in Excel 365.

Multiple criteria lookup

One of the trickiest problems in Excel is a lookup based on multiple criteria. In other words, a lookup that matches on more than one column at the same time. In the example below, we are using INDEX and MATCH and boolean logic to match on 3 columns:  Item, Color, and Size:

Read a detailed explanation here. You can use this same approach with XLOOKUP.

Note: this is an array formula and must be entered with control + shift + enter, except in Excel 365.

More examples of INDEX + MATCH

Here are some more basic examples of INDEX and MATCH in action, each with a detailed explanation:

• Basic INDEX and MATCH exact (features Toy Story)
• Basic INDEX and MATCH approximate (grades)
• Two-way lookup with INDEX and MATCH (approximate match)

Функции MS Excel ИНДЕКС (INDEX) и ПОИСКПОЗ (MATCH) – более гибкая альтернатива ВПР

Многие пользователи знают и применяют формулу ВПР. Известно также, что ВПР имеет ряд особенностей и ограничений, которые несложно обойти. Однако есть нюанс, который значительно ограничивает возможности функции ВПР.

ВПР требует, чтобы в диапазоне с искомыми данными столбец критериев всегда был первым слева. Это обстоятельство, конечно, является ограничением ВПР. Как же быть, если искомые данные находятся левее столбца с критерием? Можно, конечно, расположить столбцы в нужном порядке, что в целом, является неплохим выходом из ситуации. Но бывает так, что сделать этого нельзя, или трудно. К примеру, вы работаете в чужом документе или регулярно получаете новый отчет. В общем, нужно решение, не зависящее от расположения столбцов. Такое решение существует.

Нужно воспользоваться комбинацией из двух функций: ИНДЕКС и ПОИСКПОЗ. Формула работает следующим образом. ИНДЕКС отсчитывает необходимое количество ячеек вниз в диапазоне искомых значений. Количество отсчитываемых ячеек определяется по столбцу критериев функцией ПОИСКПОЗ. Работу комбинации этих функций удобно рассмотреть с середины, где вначале находится номер ячейки с подходящим критерием, а затем этот номер подставляется в ИНДЕКС.

Таким образом, чтобы подтянуть значение цены, соответствующее первому коду (книге), нужно прописать такую формулу.

Следует обратить внимание на корректность ссылок, чтобы при копировании формулы ничего не «съехало». Протягиваем формулу вниз. Если в таблице, откуда подтягиваются данные, нет искомого критерия, то функция выдает ошибку #Н/Д.

Довольно стандартная ситуация, с которой успешно справляется функция ЕСЛИОШИБКА. Она перехватывает ошибки и вместо них выдает что-либо другое, например, нули.

Конструкция формулы будет следующая:

Вот, собственно, и все.

Таким образом, комбинация функций ИНДЕКС и ПОИСКПОЗ является полной заменой ВПР и обладает дополнительным преимуществом: умеет находить данные слева от столбца с критерием. Кроме того, сами столбцы можно двигать как угодно, лишь бы ссылка не съехала, чего нельзя проделать с ВПР, т.к. количество столбцов там указывается конкретным числом. Посему комбинация ИНДЕКС и ПОИСКПОЗ более универсальна, чем ВПР.

Ниже видеоурок по работе функций ИНДЕКС и ПОИСКПОЗ.

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Look up values with VLOOKUP, INDEX, or MATCH

Tip: Try using the new XLOOKUP and XMATCH functions, improved versions of the functions described in this article. These new functions work in any direction and return exact matches by default, making them easier and more convenient to use than their predecessors.

Suppose that you have a list of office location numbers, and you need to know which employees are in each office. The spreadsheet is huge, so you might think it is challenging task. It’s actually quite easy to do with a lookup function.

The VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP functions, together with INDEX and MATCH, are some of the most useful functions in Excel.

Note: The Lookup Wizard feature is no longer available in Excel.

Here’s an example of how to use VLOOKUP.

In this example, B2 is the first argument—an element of data that the function needs to work. For VLOOKUP, this first argument is the value that you want to find. This argument can be a cell reference, or a fixed value such as «smith» or 21,000. The second argument is the range of cells, C2-:E7, in which to search for the value you want to find. The third argument is the column in that range of cells that contains the value that you seek.

The fourth argument is optional. Enter either TRUE or FALSE. If you enter TRUE, or leave the argument blank, the function returns an approximate match of the value you specify in the first argument. If you enter FALSE, the function will match the value provide by the first argument. In other words, leaving the fourth argument blank—or entering TRUE—gives you more flexibility.

This example shows you how the function works. When you enter a value in cell B2 (the first argument), VLOOKUP searches the cells in the range C2:E7 (2nd argument) and returns the closest approximate match from the third column in the range, column E (3rd argument).

The fourth argument is empty, so the function returns an approximate match. If it didn’t, you’d have to enter one of the values in columns C or D to get a result at all.

When you’re comfortable with VLOOKUP, the HLOOKUP function is equally easy to use. You enter the same arguments, but it searches in rows instead of columns.

Using INDEX and MATCH instead of VLOOKUP

There are certain limitations with using VLOOKUP—the VLOOKUP function can only look up a value from left to right. This means that the column containing the value you look up should always be located to the left of the column containing the return value. Now if your spreadsheet isn’t built this way, then do not use VLOOKUP. Use the combination of INDEX and MATCH functions instead.

This example shows a small list where the value we want to search on, Chicago, isn’t in the leftmost column. So, we can’t use VLOOKUP. Instead, we’ll use the MATCH function to find Chicago in the range B1:B11. It’s found in row 4. Then, INDEX uses that value as the lookup argument, and finds the population for Chicago in the 4th column (column D). The formula used is shown in cell A14.

For more examples of using INDEX and MATCH instead of VLOOKUP, see the article https://www.mrexcel.com/excel-tips/excel-vlookup-index-match/ by Bill Jelen, Microsoft MVP.

Give it a try

If you want to experiment with lookup functions before you try them out with your own data, here’s some sample data.

VLOOKUP Example at work

Copy the following data into a blank spreadsheet.

Tip: Before you paste the data into Excel, set the column widths for columns A through C to 250 pixels, and click Wrap Text ( Home tab, Alignment group).

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How to use INDEX and MATCH

Summary

INDEX and MATCH is the most popular tool in Excel for performing more advanced lookups. This is because INDEX and MATCH are incredibly flexible – you can do horizontal and vertical lookups, 2-way lookups, left lookups, case-sensitive lookups, and even lookups based on multiple criteria. If you want to improve your Excel skills, INDEX and MATCH should be on your list. See below for many examples.

This article explains in simple terms how to use INDEX and MATCH together to perform lookups. It takes a step-by-step approach, first explaining INDEX, then MATCH, then showing you how to combine the two functions together to create a dynamic two-way lookup. There are more advanced examples further down the page.

The INDEX Function

The INDEX function in Excel is fantastically flexible and powerful, and you’ll find it in a huge number of Excel formulas, especially advanced formulas. But what does INDEX actually do? In a nutshell, INDEX retrieves the value at a given location in a range. For example, let’s say you have a table of planets in our solar system (see below), and you want to get the name of the 4th planet, Mars, with a formula. You can use INDEX like this:

INDEX returns the value in the 4th row of the range.

What if you want to get the diameter of Mars with INDEX? In that case, we can supply both a row number and a column number, and provide a larger range. The INDEX formula below uses the full range of data in B3:D11, with a row number of 4 and column number of 2:

INDEX retrieves the value at row 4, column 2.

To summarize, INDEX gets a value at a given location in a range of cells based on numeric position. When the range is one-dimensional, you only need to supply a row number. When the range is two-dimensional, you’ll need to supply both the row and column number.

At this point, you may be thinking «So what? How often do you actually know the position of something in a spreadsheet?»

Exactly right. We need a way to locate the position of things we’re looking for.

Enter the MATCH function.

The MATCH function

The MATCH function is designed for one purpose: find the position of an item in a range. For example, we can use MATCH to get the position of the word «peach» in this list of fruits like this:

MATCH returns 3, since «Peach» is the 3rd item. MATCH is not case-sensitive.

MATCH doesn’t care if a range is horizontal or vertical, as you can see below:

Same result with a horizontal range, MATCH returns 3.

Important: The last argument in the MATCH function is match_type. Match_type is important and controls whether matching is exact or approximate. In many cases you will want to use zero (0) to force exact match behavior. Match_type defaults to 1, which means approximate match, so it’s important to provide a value. See the MATCH page for more details.

INDEX and MATCH together

Now that we’ve covered the basics of INDEX and MATCH, how do we combine the two functions in a single formula? Consider the data below, a table showing a list of salespeople and monthly sales numbers for three months: January, February, and March.

Let’s say we want to write a formula that returns the sales number for February for a given salesperson. From the discussion above, we know we can give INDEX a row and column number to retrieve a value. For example, to return the February sales number for Frantz, we provide the range C3:E11 with a row 5 and column 2:

But we obviously don’t want to hardcode numbers. Instead, we want a dynamic lookup.

How will we do that? The MATCH function of course. MATCH will work perfectly for finding the positions we need. Working one step at a time, let’s leave the column hardcoded as 2 and make the row number dynamic. Here’s the revised formula, with the MATCH function nested inside INDEX in place of 5:

Taking things one step further, we’ll use the value from H2 in MATCH:

MATCH finds «Frantz» and returns 5 to INDEX for row.

1. INDEX needs numeric positions.
2. MATCH finds those positions.
3. MATCH is nested inside INDEX.

Let’s now tackle the column number.

Two-way lookup with INDEX and MATCH

Above, we used the MATCH function to find the row number dynamically, but hardcoded the column number. How can we make the formula fully dynamic, so we can return sales for any given salesperson in any given month? The trick is to use MATCH twice – once to get a row position, and once to get a column position.

From the examples above, we know MATCH works fine with both horizontal and vertical arrays. That means we can easily find the position of a given month with MATCH. For example, this formula returns the position of March, which is 3:

But of course we don’t want to hardcode any values, so let’s update the worksheet to allow the input of a month name, and use MATCH to find the column number we need. The screen below shows the result:

A fully dynamic, two-way lookup with INDEX and MATCH.

The first MATCH formula returns 5 to INDEX as the row number, the second MATCH formula returns 3 to INDEX as the column number. Once MATCH runs, the formula simplifies to:

and INDEX correctly returns $10,525, the sales number for Frantz in March.

Note: you could use Data Validation to create dropdown menus to select salesperson and month.

Video: How to debug a formula with F9 (to see MATCH return values)

Left lookup

One of the key advantages of INDEX and MATCH over the VLOOKUP function is the ability to perform a «left lookup». Simply put, this just means a lookup where the ID column is to the right of the values you want to retrieve, as seen in the example below:

Case-sensitive lookup

By itself, the MATCH function is not case-sensitive. However, you use the EXACT function with INDEX and MATCH to perform a lookup that respects upper and lower case, as shown below:

Note: this is an array formula and must be entered with control + shift + enter, except in Excel 365.

Closest match

Another example that shows off the flexibility of INDEX and MATCH is the problem of finding the closest match. In the example below, we use the MIN function together with the ABS function to create a lookup value and a lookup array inside the MATCH function. Essentially, we use MATCH to find the smallest difference. Then we use INDEX to retrieve the associated trip from column B.

Note: this is an array formula and must be entered with control + shift + enter, except in Excel 365.

Multiple criteria lookup

One of the trickiest problems in Excel is a lookup based on multiple criteria. In other words, a lookup that matches on more than one column at the same time. In the example below, we are using INDEX and MATCH and boolean logic to match on 3 columns: Item, Color, and Size:

Note: this is an array formula and must be entered with control + shift + enter, except in Excel 365.

More examples of INDEX + MATCH

Here are some more basic examples of INDEX and MATCH in action, each with a detailed explanation:

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