How to compare two columns in Excel and if match, then copy the cell next to it

Question

I've tried =IF(ISNUMBER(ISMATCH(D2,G:G,0)),H:H,"") to match numbers with a key, here are my rules:

Column D (starting at D2) match with Column G (starts at D2 as well)

If match, then Copy the cell in Column H that is matched through Columns D and G to Columns E

Is there a way to do this with a formula?

Summary

Column E is empty at the start, I want to copy the content of Column H to this column, but only if the row has been matched with column D and G.

Answer 1

It might be easier with vlookup. Try this:

=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(D2,G:H,2,0),"")

The IFERROR() is for no matches, so that it throws "" in such cases.

VLOOKUP 's first parameter is the value to 'look for' in the reference table, which is column G and H.

VLOOKUP will thus look for D2 in column G and return the value in the column index 2 (column G has column index 1, H will have column index 2), meaning that the value from column H will be returned.

The last parameter is 0 (or equivalently FALSE ) to mean an exact match. That's what you need as opposed to approximate match.

Answer 2

try this formula in column E:

=IF( AND( ISNUMBER(D2), D2=G2), H2, "")

your error is the number test, ISNUMBER( ISMATCH(D2,G:G,0) )

you do check if ismatch is-a-number, (ie isNumber("true") or isNumber("false"), which is not!.

I hope you understand my explanation.