{"id":257,"date":"2025-07-15T13:34:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T13:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/2021\/02\/12\/index\/"},"modified":"2021-02-13T11:34:39","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T11:34:39","slug":"index","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/","title":{"rendered":"INDEX"},"content":{"rendered":"

The INDEX<\/strong> function in Excel and Google Sheets is a vital tool that retrieves the value of a cell within a given range, determined by specified row and column numbers. This function proves exceptionally beneficial when handling large datasets to pinpoint specific data based on particular criteria.<\/p>\n

Basic Syntax<\/h2>\n

The syntax for the INDEX function is straightforward:<\/p>\n

=INDEX(array, row_num, [column_num])<\/code><\/pre>\n
    \n
  • array:<\/strong> This is the cell range or array from which the value is extracted.<\/li>\n
  • row_num:<\/strong> This defines the row in the array from which to extract the value.<\/li>\n
  • column_num:<\/strong> (Optional) This identifies the column in the array from which to extract the value. If this parameter is omitted, the function returns the entire row specified by row_num<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Examples of Usage<\/h2>\n
    Below are several examples to illustrate the utility of the INDEX function.<\/p>\n
    Example 1: Basic Usage<\/h3>\n
    Imagine a dataset where column A lists student names and column B their respective scores. We aim to find the score for the student in the third row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Name<\/th>\nScore<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    John<\/td>\n85<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Amy<\/td>\n92<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Michael<\/td>\n78<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
    The appropriate formula is:<\/p>\n
    =INDEX(B2:B4, 3)<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This returns “78”, the score of the student in row 3.<\/p>\n
    Example 2: Retrieving a Specific Value<\/h3>\n
    To refine the previous example, we want to fetch the score of the student named “Amy”.<\/p>\n
    This can be accomplished by combining the MATCH function with the INDEX function, as shown:<\/p>\n
    =INDEX(B2:B4, MATCH(\"Amy\", A2:A4, 0))<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This formula identifies “Amy” within the range A2:A4 and retrieves her score from column B.<\/p>\n
    Example 3: Returning an Entire Row<\/h3>\n
    In some cases, the requirement may be to extract an entire row of data based on specific criteria. For instance, if we need all data for the student “John”:<\/p>\n
    =INDEX(A2:B4, MATCH(\"John\", A2:A4, 0), 0)<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This function call outputs the entire row of data relating to “John”.<\/p>\n
    These examples underscore the flexibility and efficacy of the INDEX function in Excel and Google Sheets, making it an indispensable tool for retrieving specific values, entire rows, or even columns as needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Uses an index to choose a value from a reference or array<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lookup-and-reference"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nExcel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what the Excel INDEX function does. Clear syntax explanation and useful formula examples.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Excel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn what the Excel INDEX function does. Clear syntax explanation and useful formula examples.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Function Translator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T13:34:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-13T11:34:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"glavadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Excel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"glavadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/\",\"name\":\"Excel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-15T13:34:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-13T11:34:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#\/schema\/person\/87663eece497ca58643166ecb09f1389\"},\"description\":\"Learn what the Excel INDEX function does. Clear syntax explanation and useful formula examples.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Function Excel\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lookup and reference\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/lookup-and-reference\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"INDEX\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/\",\"name\":\"Function Translator\",\"description\":\"Excel function translator\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#\/schema\/person\/87663eece497ca58643166ecb09f1389\",\"name\":\"glavadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ccd9347c5339db75deede5a8c5b2bf1d40e0bce26a5251fcaac6331d381db8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ccd9347c5339db75deede5a8c5b2bf1d40e0bce26a5251fcaac6331d381db8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"glavadmin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/author\/glavadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Excel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax","description":"Learn what the Excel INDEX function does. Clear syntax explanation and useful formula examples.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Excel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax","og_description":"Learn what the Excel INDEX function does. Clear syntax explanation and useful formula examples.","og_url":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/","og_site_name":"Function Translator","article_published_time":"2025-07-15T13:34:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-13T11:34:39+00:00","author":"glavadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Excel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"glavadmin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/","url":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/","name":"Excel INDEX Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-15T13:34:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-13T11:34:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#\/schema\/person\/87663eece497ca58643166ecb09f1389"},"description":"Learn what the Excel INDEX function does. Clear syntax explanation and useful formula examples.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/index\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Function Excel","item":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lookup and reference","item":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/lookup-and-reference\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"INDEX"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#website","url":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/","name":"Function Translator","description":"Excel function translator","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#\/schema\/person\/87663eece497ca58643166ecb09f1389","name":"glavadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/no\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ccd9347c5339db75deede5a8c5b2bf1d40e0bce26a5251fcaac6331d381db8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ccd9347c5339db75deede5a8c5b2bf1d40e0bce26a5251fcaac6331d381db8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"glavadmin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/functiontranslator.com"],"url":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/author\/glavadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3148,"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions\/3148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}