SVERWEIS simply explained - everything important at a glance

If you want to search a data set within your workbook in Microsoft Excel for a certain search criterion, this works among other things with the SVERWEIS function. Learn here how the SVERWEIS works and how to use this handy function.

How to use the SVERWEIS function in Excel

With the help of the SVERWEIS function, you can search a matrix in Excel according to a search criterion you specify. The formula of the function is composed as follows: =SVERWEIS(search_criterion; matrix; column_index; [range_reference])

• The argument "search_criterion" stands for the search term you want to search for. You can either enter the word or number directly into the formula, or you can enter it into the cell where the search criterion is located. The latter is the more flexible and better to implement variant.
• The argument "Matrix" stands for the search range in which you want to search for the criterion specified in the first argument.
• About the argument "Column index" you enter the column number in which SVERWEIS should search the information sought.
• With the optional argument "[range_reference]" you can specify the whether to search for an exact or inexact match. The number 1 stands for an inexact search and 0 for an exact search.

SVERWEIS: You should pay attention to this when using

Note that SVERWEIS can only search vertically. If you want to search from left to right, you must use the WVERWEIS function. Also, make sure that the formats of the search field and the search area match, for example, text to text or number to number. Stimmen die beiden Formate nicht überein, erhalten Sie als Ausgabe eine Fehlermeldung.