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How to find the row number of a value in Excel and Google Sheets
Excel & Google Sheets
=MATCH("Bob",$A$2:$A$5,0)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Name |
| Alice |
| Bob |
| Carlos |
| Diana |
=MATCH("Bob",$A$2:$A$5,0)→2
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Step by step
- 1Type =MATCH(lookupValue,range,0) where 0 means exact match. The result is the position within the range — 1 means the first cell, 2 the second, etc.
- 2To get the actual worksheet row number, add the row of the first cell minus one: =MATCH("Bob",$A$2:$A$100,0)+ROW($A$2)-1.
- 3Wrap in IFERROR to handle missing values gracefully: =IFERROR(MATCH("Bob",$A$2:$A$100,0)+ROW($A$2)-1,"Not found").
Tips
- MATCH with the third argument set to 0 performs an exact match. Use 1 for ascending approximate match or -1 for descending approximate match when working with sorted data.
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Frequently asked
How do I find the row number of the last occurrence of a value?
Use =MATCH(2,1/(A2:A100=value),1) entered as an array formula (Ctrl+Shift+Enter in Excel). It finds the last position by exploiting the way MATCH searches from the end with match_type=1.