MATCH function

Syntax

MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, [match_type])

The MATCH function syntax has the following arguments:

• lookup_value    Required. The value that you want to match in lookup_array. For example, when you look up someone's number in a telephone book, you are using the person's name as the lookup value, but the telephone number is the value you want.
  
  The lookup_value argument can be a value (number, text, or logical value) or a cell reference to a number, text, or logical value.
  

• lookup_array    Required. The range of cells being searched.

• match_type    Optional. The number -1, 0, or 1. The match_type argument specifies how Excel matches lookup_value with values in lookup_array. The default value for this argument is 1.
  
  The following table describes how the function finds values based on the setting of the match_type argument.

• MATCH returns the position of the matched value within lookup_array, not the value itself. For example, MATCH("b",{"a","b","c"},0) returns 2, which is the relative position of "b" within the array {"a","b","c"}.

• MATCH does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters when matching text values.

• If MATCH is unsuccessful in finding a match, it returns the #N/A error value.

• If match_type is 0 and lookup_value is a text string, you can use the wildcard characters — the question mark (?) and asterisk (*) — in the lookup_value argument. A question mark matches any single character; an asterisk matches any sequence of characters. If you want to find an actual question mark or asterisk, type a tilde (~) before the character.

Example

Copy the example data in the following table, and paste it in cell A1 of a new Excel worksheet. For formulas to show results, select them, press F2, and then press Enter. If you need to, you can adjust the column widths to see all the data.