Stop guessing why INDEX MATCH returns #N/A and fix the real cause—exact match differences that are easy to miss. This walkthrough gives you a reliable troubleshooting order: validate MATCH, confirm the value exists, fix text-vs-number issues, remove hidden spaces and characters, and align ranges correctly. You’ll also learn when to clean the source data versus adding defensive logic like helper columns and IFNA. #Excel #INDEXMATCH #ExcelFormulas
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 #N/A Fix Fast
00:58 Confirm the Exact-Match Setup
01:48 Is the Value Really There?
02:37 Text vs Number Mismatch
03:33 Hidden Spaces and CHAR(160)
04:22 CLEAN: Remove Invisible Junk
05:09 Align Lookup and Return Ranges
05:57 Duplicates and “Wrong Match”
06:49 Leading Zeros and ID Codes
07:44 Defensive Fixes in Formulas
08:39 Debug with Checkpoints
09:31 Exact vs Approximate Match
10:18 The #N/A Fix Checklist
11:13 Fix Data or Fix Formula?
12:00 Conclusion & Outro
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