How to Find Missing Values in a List in Excel (3 Easy Methods)

Today we will learn how to find missing values in a list in Excel. We may sometimes find ourselves searching for certain values in a list in our daily lives. To tackle those situations, read this article carefully.

How to Find Missing Values in a List in Excel: 3 Useful Methods

In this section, we will demonstrate 3 effective methods to find missing values in a list in Excel. To display the methods, we have created an example where a list of the top 10 goal scorers in a tournament is given. And on the right side, there are some names of the players. Now we want to find out if the given names on the right sides are actually on the list of top 10 goal scorers or not.

So let’s begin with our first method.

1. Combine IF and COUNTIF Functions to Find Missing Values

Steps:

Here we have combined the IF and COUNTIF functions and used the following formula in cell E5.

=IF(COUNTIF(B5:B14,D5),"Yes","Missing")

Where,

B5:B14 is the cell range of the list where the name will be searched.
D5 is the name of the player to be searched.
“Yes” is the result shown when the player is found in the list.
“No” is the result shown when the player is not found in the list.

To use the same formula for cells from E6 to E9, use the following steps.

Bring your mouse cursor to B5 in the formula bar and click the f4 You will see that the dollar sign “$” has appeared before B and 5.

Now do the same thing for B14. As a result, you should get the same result as this below.

Now bring your mouse cursor to the bottom right corner of cell E5. You should notice a sign like “+”.

Now drag it down to E9. You should get the results like this.

2. Merge IF, ISNA, and MATCH Functions to Find Missing Values

Steps:

In this method, we will use the MATCH and ISNA functions along with the IF function. The formula is below:

=IF(ISNA(MATCH(D5,B5:B14,0)),”Missing”,”Yes”)

=IF(ISNA(MATCH(D5,B5:B14,0)),"Missing","Yes")

Here,

D5 is the player to be searched in the list.
B5:B14 is the range of the list.
0 is for Exact matching.
“Missing” will be the result if the condition is true.
“Yes” will be the result if the condition is false.

Now, following the method described in method 1, you can apply a similar formula for other cells and get the same result.

3. Combine IF, ISNA, and VLOOKUP Functions to Find Missing Values

Steps:

We can also use the VLOOKUP function instead of the MATCH function to accomplish our task of finding missing values in a list in Excel. So the formula will be like this:

=IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(D9,B5:B14,1,0)),"Missing","Yes")

Where