What is MATCH Function in Excel?

The MATCH function in Excel is used to find a specific item in a range of cells. Then the position of that item is shown as a returned value. It can be used to find both exact and approximate matches. It also accepts wildcard entries (* ?)

Purpose of MATCH Function

The purpose of the MATCH function in MS Excel is to find out the position of a specific value in a given array or range of cells. It will return the value of the first match found in a range of cells.

Syntax of MATCH Function

The syntax of the MATCH function in EXCEL is below.

MATCH (lookup_value, lookup_array, [match_type])

Arguments

Arguments in the MATCH function are described below.

Lookup_value: this is an essential argument of the MATCH function. This is the value that you want to find out in an array. The value returned can be in the form of numbers, alphabets, values, or cell references.

Lookup_array: this is also an essential argument. In this argument, you mention the range of cells in which you want to search the value.

Match_type: this is an optional argument. It defines the type of the match. This argument can contain any of the three values 1, 0, and -1.

1 means to find the largest value in the range of cells.

0 means to find the exact value as mentioned in the lookup_value.

-1 means to find the smallest value in the range of cells.

Examples

MATCH (39, B2:B5,1)

In this example, 39 is the look-up value to be searched in the range of cells.

B2:B5 is the range of cells in which the value will be searched.

1 is the match-type argument, it will return the largest value in the array