From the course: Mastering Lookup Functions in Excel: Seven Powerful Formulas

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INDEX and MATCH pros and cons

INDEX and MATCH pros and cons - Microsoft Excel Tutorial

From the course: Mastering Lookup Functions in Excel: Seven Powerful Formulas

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INDEX and MATCH pros and cons

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- [Narrator] You may be able to tell from my excitement that INDEX MATCH is my favorite lookup function, as it provides you with so much flexibility. Let's review all the benefits of INDEX MATCH. First, it's really simple. You have an INDEX function that takes three arguments, your lookup range, your row index, and your column index. And instead of typing in these indexes manually, you use the MATCH function, which matches the position of a value in another range. Additionally, INDEX MATCH allows you to look up values in a vertical direction, horizontal direction, or both directions at the same time. That's a game-changer. It also works in all versions of Excel. Unlike XLOOKUP, which is a newer function that may cause compatibility issues. And unlike XLOOKUP, you don't need to deal with complex nesting. In terms of the limitations, well, this is a pretty long formula. In fact, it's three functions that can give your fingers a bit of a workout as you're typing that all out. Next…

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