Excel for beginners, what are index match and how to use it

Excel’s INDEX MATCH function is a powerful tool that allows users to look up and retrieve data from a table or range based on a specified value or criterion. It is often used as an alternative to the VLOOKUP function and is considered to be more flexible and efficient.

The INDEX function returns a value from a range of cells based on a specified index number, while the MATCH function returns the position of a value within a range of cells. When used together, INDEX MATCH can retrieve a specific value from a table or range by matching a specified value or criterion to the corresponding value in a separate column or row.

Here’s an example of how to use the INDEX MATCH function:

Let’s say you have a table of data that contains a list of employees and their corresponding salaries. The table is organized with the employee names in column A and the salaries in column B. You want to retrieve the salary of a specific employee, “John Smith,” but you don’t know which row he’s in.

To use INDEX MATCH, you would first need to create two separate formulas: one for the INDEX function and one for the MATCH function. The INDEX function would be used to specify the range of cells that contains the data you want to retrieve (in this case, column B), while the MATCH function would be used to specify the value or criterion you’re looking for (in this case, “John Smith”).