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How to find the first matching value in a row in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:Lookups (any direction)Excel & Google Sheets
=INDEX($B$1:$E$1,MATCH(TRUE,$B$2:$E$2>50,0))Try it with your data
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Step by step
- 1Identify the row to search (e.g. B2:E2) and the criteria (e.g. value > 50).
- 2Use MATCH with the logical array: MATCH(TRUE,B2:E2>50,0) — in Excel confirm with Ctrl+Shift+Enter; Google Sheets handles it automatically.
- 3Wrap in INDEX against the header row to return the column name: =INDEX($B$1:$E$1,MATCH(TRUE,$B$2:$E$2>50,0)). This returns the header of the first column exceeding 50.
Tips
- To find the first non-blank cell in a row use =INDEX(B2:E2,MATCH(FALSE,ISBLANK(B2:E2),0)) as an array formula — MATCH finds the first FALSE from ISBLANK.
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Frequently asked
How do I find the first matching value in a row using HLOOKUP?
HLOOKUP searches the first row for a value and returns from a specified row below it: =HLOOKUP(lookupValue,B1:E5,2,FALSE) finds the value in row 1 and returns the cell in row 2 of that column.
More on Lookups (any direction)
See all →Reference
HLOOKUP
Look up a value in the top row of a table and return a value from a row below it — the horizontal cousin of VLOOKUP.
How-toHow to look up the last matching value
Use LOOKUP with a search trick or XLOOKUP with search mode -1 to find the last occurrence of a value in a list.
How-toHow to do a lookup with wildcards
Use VLOOKUP or MATCH with wildcard characters (* and ?) to perform partial-match lookups on text values.
How-toHow to do a case-sensitive lookup
Use INDEX with MATCH and the EXACT function to perform a lookup that distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase text.
How-toHow to look up a value and sum the matches
Use SUMIF or SUMIFS to sum all values that match a lookup criterion, returning the total of all matching rows rather than a single result.
How-toHow to find the closest matching value
Use INDEX and MATCH with ABS and MIN to find the value in a list that is numerically closest to a target number.