INDEX and MATCH across two sheets: a detailed explanation

Paul Newcome

@Brett Wyrick Do you regularly use the Manage References feature to create new references? I personally always create them while I am typing out the formula itself. It helps me keep things organized and I am less likely to forget what I named a range. Haha.

Stefan

@Edith Orenstein

Hi,

depending on how you connect source and targets, different limits may apply.

check this Smartsheet article for more Infos:

https://www.smartsheet.com/content-center/product-news/release-notes/faster-larger-sheets

Hope this helps!

stefan

JayF

Hey @Brett Wyrick awesome explanation on index/match, I just had a question, or maybe more advice. We have a master sheet with all employees and important information. I've created another sheet for myself to track tenure, at first I was thinking I could use the copy rows automation and just set an automation on the new sheet to delete certain columns after its copied over as some are not needed. After thinking about it though, I'm assuming if rows are updated on the master sheet it won't be reflected on the destination sheet, for example when an employee no longer works for us we update the master sheet. I'm not sure Index/Match would work in this situation though? Will it copy over any added rows to the new sheet or just index/match current rows?

Andrée Starå

Hi @JayF

I hope you're well and safe!

You could use cross-sheet formulas combined with either a VLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH structure to connect the sheets, and when you update the source sheet, it will reflect on the destination sheet.

Another option would be to use so-called helper sheets. In short, copy the row to a helper sheet and then use my method described previously to get the values you need to another helper sheet and then copy/move the row from that sheet to the main destination sheet.

To connect them row by row, you'd use an Autonumber Column in the Source sheet and add a so-called helper column to manually add the row id on as many rows as you think you need in the Destination sheet.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Paul Newcome

@JayF The INDEX/MATCH will only work on rows that exist in the target sheet. If that row does not already exist, the INDEX/MATCH will not create a new row. You can stick with the copy row automation though from the source sheet to the target sheet to make sure new rows are always added as needed and an INDEX/MATCH column formula should be automatically applied to the newly added row.

L_123

A nice thing to note about index match is that it's structurally identical to excel. There are many tutorials for excel as well that can be directly applied to smartsheet

JayF

Awesome thank you everyone.

Andrée Starå

@JayF

Happy to help!

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WinaHath

=INDEX({Function}, MATCH([Dept Code]@row, {Dept Code}, 1))

What's wrong with this formula? I keep getting #UNPARSEABLE

this is my cross referenced sheet:

Basically, I want the function to output the function code to this sheet by matching the department code

Genevieve P.

Hey @WinaHath

How are your Dept Codes being entered in both sheets? I can see in your current sheet with the formula the numbers are on the left side of the cell, indicating they're being read as text, whereas in your second sheet they're on the right side of the cell, meaning they're seen as numerical values.

Try wrapping a VALUE function around your row reference to turn the ones appearing on the left side into numerical values as well:

=INDEX({Function}, MATCH(VALUE([Dept Code]@row), {Dept Code}, 0))

Let us know if that worked!

Cheers,

Genevieve

L_123

Double check your cross sheet references and make sure they actually exist. Smartsheet sometimes has a glitch where you make them and they don't link up. Just put your cursor on them and hit "Edit Reference"

L_123

@Genevieve P. I noticed that too, but that should pop a #No Match error as evidenced below:

Paul Newcome

It could also be the "hidden space" in the column name issue. Instead of manually typing [Dept Code]@row, when you get to that point in the formula just click on the cell in that column.

Mariann Carmen

How can I modify the following INDEX/MATCH formula to bring back multiple Resource Managers, when I have more than one Resource (Assigned To). Here's the formula I'm using, but I don't know how to modify it to get it to do what I need: =INDEX({Resource Manager2}, MATCH([Assigned To]@row, {Resource2}, 0), 1)

Andrée Starå

Hi @Mariann Carmen

I hope you're well and safe!

Ensure that both columns in both sheets are set to allow multiple contacts.

Did that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support the Community by marking it Insightful/Vote Up, Awesome, or/and as the accepted answer. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!