Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Looking Backward through a Data Table.

Looking Backward through a Data Table

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 12, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


Kirk has a large data table in Excel. Each row has a vehicle number, date (the table is sorted by this column), beginning mileage, and ending mileage. He would like to search backwards through the data table to find the ending mileage for the same vehicle number to use as the beginning mileage in the current row—similar to VLOOKUP, but looking bottom to top rather that top to bottom.

There are several ways you can approach this with a formula. Assume, for this example, that the vehicle number is in column A, the date in column B, the starting mileage in column C, and the ending mileage in column D. What you need is a formula you can put in column C that looks up the most recent ending mileage for current vehicle. The following formula provides one approach; you should place it in cell C3:

=LOOKUP(2,1/FIND(A3,A$2:A2,1),D$2:D2)

You can copy the formula down the column as far as you need. If the vehicle number, in column A, has not appeared earlier in the data table, then the formula will return an error such as #VALUE! or #N/A. In that case, you can easily type over the formula with the starting mileage that you want to use for the vehicle.

Here's another formulaic approach, but this one should be entered as an array formula (by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter):

=IF(A3="","",MAX(IF(($A$2:A2=A3)*($D$2:D2),$D$2:D2)))

Again, place the formula in cell C3 and copy it down as far as needed. This one doesn't return an error value if the vehicle hasn't appeared earlier in the data table; it returns a value of 0. You can then type over the formula with the real starting mileage for that vehicle. The following array formula could also be used:

=IF(A3="","",INDIRECT("D"&LARGE(($A$2:A3=A3)*ROW($2:3),2)))

The difference with this array formula is that if the vehicle hasn't appeared earlier in the data table, it returns a #REF! error.

Here are two array formulas that are even shorter that you can use in C3 (and, again, copy down as needed):

=MAX((D$2:D2)*(--(A$2:A2=A3)))
=MAX(IF(A$2:A2=A3,D$2:D2))

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11745) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Looking Backward through a Data Table.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Consistent Formatting Between Word Versions

When you upgrade from one version of Word to another, you may be surprised to find that your documents, all of a sudden, ...

Discover More

Spacing Table Rows Vertically

Want to get just the right amount of spacing above and below text in a table cell? A very easy way to do this is to ...

Discover More

Changing Colors of Spelling and Grammar Underlines

The red and green wavy underlines used in Word can be a boon for proofing a document, but they are of little use if you ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! John Walkenbach's name is synonymous with excellence in deciphering complex technical topics. With this comprehensive guide, "Mr. Spreadsheet" shows how to maximize your Excel experience using professional spreadsheet application development tips from his own personal bookshelf. Check out Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Finding the First Non-Digit in a Text Value

If you have a string of text that is composed of digits and non-digits, you may want to know where the digits stop and ...

Discover More

First Value Less Than or Equal to 100

If you need to evaluate a row of values to meet specific criteria, then you'll appreciate the discussion in this tip. It ...

Discover More

Generating a Gift Exchange List

Want to figure out how to do a gift exchange for your family or office? There are a variety of ways you can approach the ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is three less than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.