MATCH Function in SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026: Formula, Examples & Troubleshooting

• Introduced: Documented by PlanMaker 2021; the original introduction version is not established.
• Availability: Documented in PlanMaker 2026. This is a supported-version reference, not a final working-version endpoint.
• Scope: The reference belongs to the 2026/NX manual family; availability in FreeOffice and individual mobile builds is not established here.
• Checked: October 14, 2026, against the official function reference. Documentation check; not a new native test.

=MATCH(Crit, Range [, MatchMode])

Crit is the value to find; Range must be one row or one column. MatchMode defaults to 1, meaning the largest value less than or equal to the key in an ascending range. Mode 0 finds the first exact match without sorting. Mode -1 finds the smallest value greater than or equal to the key in a descending range. The result is a position within the range, not an absolute worksheet row or the matched value. In formula syntax, square brackets mark optional arguments; do not type square brackets into an ordinary formula unless the particular function requires array notation. The separator shown is for the example locale and might change with spreadsheet settings.

When to use it: Pass the MATCH position to INDEX when you need a value from another range. PlanMaker INDEX also requires an explicit column argument, including 1 for a one-column return range.

In PlanMaker 2026, enter the practice records in rows 1–9 and check the formula bar before calculating. Use comma-separated examples as in SoftMaker’s English-language reference.

For the formulas that reference cells, enter this small dataset into A1:F9 (the first row contains headings). The Amount and Units columns are numbers; the team, status, item and agent columns are text. Keep the calculation cell outside A1:F9 so it cannot overwrite an input.

=MATCH("Box",A2:A9,0)

Expected result: 3. Box first appears as the third value of A2:A9, at A4.

1. Select an unused output cell (for example H2 if the practice table occupies A1:F9).
2. Enter the formula exactly as shown, including the opening equals sign and quoted text.
3. Compare the displayed answer to the expected result, then inspect the source cells if it differs.

For a range formula, the row numbers include data rows only unless the example explicitly refers to headers. A result that looks plausible may still be wrong if it references the wrong column.

=MATCH("West",B2:B9,0)

Expected result: 2. West first occurs as the second team value, at B3.

Check the second result separately, using only the stated cell ranges. Confirm your particular 2026 installation parses the displayed argument separator.

=INDEX(D2:D9,MATCH("Folder",A2:A9,0),1)

Expected result: 150. MATCH returns 5 for Folder within A2:A9. INDEX uses row position 5 and column position 1 within D2:D9, so it returns D6’s amount. Both ranges start on row 2 and contain eight rows; shifting only one range would break the alignment. If the search key is duplicated, the first exact match is used.

As a wildcard check, =MATCH("Fo*",A2:A9,0) is expected to return 5 for Folder. This checks documented pattern matching, not case-sensitive identity.

Watch out: In PlanMaker, the omitted MatchMode is specifically 1, so use 0 for these unsorted text keys. For text searches with mode 0, SoftMaker documents ? for one character and * for any character sequence. An intended literal wildcard needs separate handling; do not assume an undocumented escape convention.

The examples use exact matching. Approximate matching requires the documented sort order; a plausible answer is not proof that the input table meets that requirement.

Use PlanMaker’s formula input row and Function Assistant to inspect argument types. Check whether a number imported from text is stored as a string, and check lookup boundaries and the selected matching mode.

If you get the wrong answer but no error, try these checks in order: (1) evaluate the simplified first example; (2) confirm the cell values and data types; (3) check the exact row and column boundaries; (4) verify quoted text, comparison operators and separators; (5) only then add more criteria or nested functions.

For a reproducible comparison with another spreadsheet product, use the same input values in both applications and record the installed version and locale. Different default matching behavior or handling of empty values can be a migration issue rather than a mathematical disagreement.

PlanMaker is Excel-style but its A–Z manual controls the supported options for any one function. Features such as FILTER or dynamic spilling may differ by release.

Related guides already published for this function: Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets | WPS Spreadsheet | Collabora Office Calc | LibreOffice Calc

If a comparison tool says Not researched here, that means we do not yet have a checked guide for that software. It does not mean the software lacks this function. See the 12-program comparison tool for a guide-coverage matrix.

• SoftMaker — PlanMaker 2026 functions reference
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Evidence level: Function-specific PlanMaker 2026 reference, checked on October 14, 2026; example outputs verified by direct reasoning/arithmetic where applicable. No execution in SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026 was performed. Some platform-, language- and release-specific edge cases remain for native testing.