VLOOKUP vs INDEX MATCH This is a general question regarding

VLOOKUP vs INDEX / MATCH

This is a general question regarding the internal resources required for a template that uses VLOOKUP or INDEX / MATCH formulas.

I have a large template, with lots of data feeding into it.   I recently started using INDEX and MATCH instead of VLOOKUP and have noticed that when recalc\'ing my template, it appears to take significantly less time. Is this true or is it in my head?

Thanks !!

Solution

Hi...

There\'s an excellent summary here\'

http://www.excelguru.ca/forums/showthread.php?132--INDEX-MATCH-versus-VLOOKUP&p=599&viewfull=1#post599

IMHO the difference is marginal and the only time I would definitely use INDEX/MATCH is for doing a right left lookup. You can do right left lookups with VLOOKUP but they are very slow on large data sets.

As an aside when analysing workbook performance I use this bit of code which I keep in my personal workbook.