Question

I have a sheet full of some raw data, about 20,000 rows and 50 columns. (Number of rows expected to increase, probably double if not triple)

I need a formula to look at this data and determine if a row exists for data in two specified columns. My current formula is as follows.

Function CheckExists(Table As Range, SearchCol1 As Integer, SearchVal1 As Variant, SearchCol2 As Integer, SearchVal2 As Variant)

    Dim i As Long
    Dim exists As Boolean

    exists = False

    For i = 1 To Table.Rows.Count
        If Table.Cells(i, SearchCol1) = SearchVal1 Then
            If Table.Cells(i, SearchCol2) = SearchVal2 Then
                exists = True
                Exit For
            End If
        End If
    Next i

    CheckExists = exists

End Function

I run this formula from another sheet, with about 5000 rows.

My problem is, this kills my pc, it takes ages to calculate the cells. I’m hoping someone can offer some suggestions on how to make this faster or even better, a built in formula that can do what I’m after.

Answer 1

I suggest adding a column to concatenate the values in the two columns of interest then using the MATCH worksheet function to search the new column.