MATCH function in Microsoft Excel

The MATCH function in Microsoft Excel is used to find the position of a specified item in a range of cells. The syntax of the function is as follows:

=MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, [match_type])

Where:

• lookup_value: The value that you want to find in the lookup_array.
• lookup_array: The range of cells that you want to search.
• match_type: Optional argument that specifies how Excel should match the lookup_value with values in the lookup_array. The possible values are:
  • 1 (or omitted): Finds the largest value that is less than or equal to the lookup_value.
  • 0: Finds the first value that is exactly equal to the lookup_value.
  • -1: Finds the smallest value that is greater than or equal to the lookup_value.

Here is an example of how to use the MATCH function in Excel:

Suppose you have a list of fruit names in cells A1:A5, and you want to find the position of "banana" in the list. You can use the following formula:

=MATCH("banana", A1:A5, 0)

The formula will return the value 2, because "banana" is the second item in the list.

Note that if the lookup_value is not found in the lookup_array, the function will return the #N/A error. You can use the IFERROR function to handle this error, like this:

=IFERROR(MATCH("banana", A1:A5, 0), "Not found")

This formula will return the text "Not found" if "banana" is not found in the list.