THE ULTIMATE

GUIDE TO USING
EXCEL INDEX
FUNCTION

This guide contains an Overview of the Excel

INDEX Function and 5 Examples that will make
you an INDEX function champion!

Created by: Sumit Bansal (Excel MVP,

TrumpExcel.com)
Table of Contents

1. Excel INDEX Function

An Overview

2. INDEX FUNCTION: Example 1

Doing a 2-way Lookup

3. INDEX FUNCTION: Example 2

Making the Lookup Value Dynamic

4. INDEX FUNCTION: Example 3

Return Values from an Entire Row/Column

5. INDEX FUNCTION: Example 4

Three Way Lookup Using INDEX MATCH

6. INDEX FUNCTION: Example 5

Creating a Reference Using the INDEX Function

7. Can't Miss Excel Resources

Excel INDEX Function
An Overview

When to use the Excel INDEX

Function
Excel INDEX function can be used when you want to fetch the
value from a tabular data set and you have the row number
and column number of the data point.
For example, in the example below, you can use the INDEX
function to get the marks of Tom in Physics when you know
the row number and the column number in the data set.

What it Returns
It returns the value from a table for the specified row number
and column number.

Syntax
=INDEX (array, row_num, [col_num])
=INDEX (array, row_num, [col_num], [area_num])

INDEX function has 2 syntax. The first one is used in most

cases, however, in case of three way lookups, the second one
is used (covered in Example 4).
Input Arguments
array a range of cells or an array constant.
row_num the row number from which the value is to be
fetched.
[col_num] the column number from which the value is to
be fetched. Although this is an optional argument, but if
row_num is not provided, it needs to be given.
[area_num] (Optional) If array argument is made up of
multiple ranges, this number would be used to select the
reference from all the ranges.

Additional Notes (Boring Stuff.. But

Important to Know)
If the row number or the column number is 0, it returns the
values of the entire row or column respectively.
If INDEX function is used in front of a cell reference (such as
A1:) it returns a cell reference instead of a value (see
examples below).
Most widely used along with the MATCH function.
Unlike VLOOKUP, INDEX function can return a value from
the left of the lookup value.
INDEX function have two forms Array form and the
Reference form
Array form is where you fetch a value based on row and
column number from a given table.
Reference form is where there are multiple tables, and
you use the area_num argument to select the table and
then fetch a value within it using the row and column
number (see live example below).
INDEX FUNCTION:
Example 1
Doing a 2-way Lookup

Finding Tom's Marks in Physics

Suppose you have a data set as shown below:

To find Toms marks in Physics, use the below formula:

=INDEX($B$3:$E$10,3,2)

This INDEX formula specifies the array as $B$3:$E$10 which

has the marks for all the subjects. Then it uses the row
number (3) and column number (2) to fetch Toms marks in
Physics.
INDEX FUNCTION:
Example 2
Making the Lookup Value Dynamic

Making the Lookup Value Dynamic

Using INDEX with MATCH Function
It may not always be possible to specify the row number and
the column number manually. You may have a huge data set,
or you may want to make it dynamic so that it automatically
identifies the name and/or subject specified in cells and give
the correct result.

Something as shown below:

In the example above, when you change the name of the
student or the name of the subject, it automatically pulls the
score from the data set.

This can be done using a combination of the INDEX and the

MATCH function.

Here is the formula that will make the lookup values dynamic:

=INDEX($B$3:$E$10,MATCH($G$5,$A$3:$A$10,0),MATCH(
$H$4,$B$2:$E$2,0))

In the above formula, instead of hard-coding the row number

and the column number, MATCH function is used to make it
dynamic.

Here is the explanation of how it works:

Dynamic Row Number is given by the following part of the
formula MATCH($G$5,$A$3:$A$10,0). It scans the name
of students and identifies the lookup value ($G$5 in this
case). It then returns the row number of the lookup value in
the data set. For example, if the lookup value is Matt, itll
return 1, if it is Bob, itll return 2 and so on.
Dynamic Column Number is given by the following part of
the formula MATCH($H$4,$B$2:$E$2,0). It scans the
subject names and identifies the lookup value ($H$4 in this
case). It then returns the column number of the lookup
value in the data set. For example, if the lookup value is
Math, itll return 1, if it is Physics, itll return 2 and so on.
INDEX FUNCTION:
Example 3
Return Values from an Entire Row/Column

Return Values from an Entire

Row/Column
In the above examples, weve used Excel INDEX function to do
a 2-way lookup and get a single value.

Now, what if you want to get all the marks of a student.

This can enable you to find the maximum/minimum score of

that student, or the total marks scored in all subjects.

In simple English, you want to first get the entire row of

scores for a student (lets say Bob) and then within those
values identify the highest score or the total of all the scores.

Here is the trick.

In Excel INDEX Function, when you enter the column number

as 0, it will return the values of that entire row.
So the formula for this would be:

=INDEX($B$3:$E$10,MATCH($G$5,$A$3:$A$10,0),0)

Now this formula. if used as is, would return the #VALUE!

error. While it displays the error, in the backend, it returns an
array that has all the scores for Tom {57,77,91,91}.

If you select the formula in the edit mode and press F9, youll
be able to see the array it returns (as shown below):

Similarly, based on what the lookup value is, when the column
number is specified as 0 (or is left blank), it returns all the
values in the row for the lookup value

Now to calculate the total score obtained by Tom, we can

simply use the above formula within the SUM function.

=SUM(INDEX($B$3:$E$10,MATCH($G$5,$A$3:$A$10,0),0)
,1)
On similar lines, to calculate the highest score, we can use
MAX/LARGE and to calculate minimum, we can use
MIN/SMALL.
INDEX FUNCTION:
Example 4
Three Way Lookup Using INDEX MATCH

Three Way Lookup Using INDEX

MATCH
Excel INDEX function is built to handle three-way lookups.

What is a three-way lookup?

In the above examples, weve used one table with scores for
students in different subjects. This is an example of a two-way
lookup as we use two variables to fetch the score (students
name and the subject).

Now, suppose in a year, a student has three different levels of

exams, Unit Test, Midterm, and Final Examination (thats what
I had when I was a student).

A three-way lookup would be the ability to get a students

marks for a specified subject from the specified level of exam.
This would make it a three-way lookup as there are three
variables (students name, subjects name, and the level of
examination).
Here is an example of a three-way lookup:

In the example above, apart from selecting the students

name and subject name, you can also select the level of
exam. Based on the level of exam, it returns the matching
value from one of the three tables.

Here is the formula used in cell H4:

=INDEX(($B$3:$E$7,$B$11:$E$15,$B$19:$E$23),MATCH(
$G$4,$A$3:$A$7,0),MATCH($H$3,$B$2:$E$2,0),IF($H$2
="Unit Test",1,IF($H$2="Midterm",2,3)))
Let' understand this formula one part at a time.

This formula takes four arguments. INDEX is one of those

functions in Excel that has more than one syntax.

=INDEX (array, row_num, [col_num])

=INDEX (array, row_num, [col_num], [area_num])

So far in all the example above, we have used the first syntax,
but to do a three-way lookup, we need to use the second
syntax.

Now lets see each part of the formula based on the second
syntax.
array ($B$3:$E$7,$B$11:$E$15,$B$19:$E$23): Instead of
using a single array, in this case, we have used three arrays
within parenthesis.
row_num MATCH($G$4,$A$3:$A$7,0): MATCH function is
used to find the position of the students name in cell $G$4
in the list of students name.
col_num MATCH($H$3,$B$2:$E$2,0): MATCH function is
used to find the position of the subject name in cell $H$3 in
the list of subjects name.
[area_num] IF($H$2=Unit
Test,1,IF($H$2=Midterm,2,3)): The area number value
tells the INDEX function which array to select. In this
example, we have three arrays in the first argument. If you
select Unit Test from the drop-down, the IF function returns
1 and the INDEX functions select 1st array from the three
arrays (which is $B$3:$E$7).
INDEX FUNCTION:
Example 5
Creating a Reference Using the INDEX Function

Creating a Reference Using the

INDEX Function (Dynamic Named
Ranges)
This is one wild use of the Excel INDEX function.

Lets take a simple example.

I have a list of names as shown below:

Now I can use a simple INDEX function to get the last name
on the list. Here is the formula:

=INDEX($A$2:$A$9,COUNTA($A$2:$A$9))
This function simply counts the number of cells that are not
empty and returns the last item from this list (it works only
when there are no blanks in the list).

Now what here comes the magic.

If you put the formula in front of a cell reference, the formula

would return a cell reference of the matching value (instead
of the value itself).

=A2:INDEX($A$2:$A$9,COUNTA($A$2:$A$9))

You would expect the above formula to return =A2:Josh

(where Josh is the last value in the list).
However, it returns =A2:A9 and hence you get an array of
names as shown below:

One practical example where this technique can be helpful is

in creating dynamic named ranges.
Can't Miss Excel
Resources

Here are some Excel Resources that will skyrocket your Excel
learning and save a lot of time.
Excel Functions (Examples + Videos)
FREE Excel Templates
Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
Excel Charting Tips
Excel Dashboards Nuts & Bolts
Online Excel Dashboard Course