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Asked: 2026-06-16T12:58:07+00:00

I would like to modify this function : Custom Excel VBA Function (Modified VLOOKUP)

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I would like to modify this function : Custom Excel VBA Function (Modified VLOOKUP) from Cell referring to a range in different file gives an error

functionality I need is conceptualy simple – I need VlookUp which return value that corresponds to k-th occurance of lookup value instead of standard 1-th, example :

If k-th occurance doesn’t exist then function should return an error.

Spreadsheet-like data : 

     A       B   
1   "a"    "1a"   
2   "a"    "2a"    
3   "b"    "1b"
4   "a"    "3a"
5   "b"    "2a"

VLOOKUPnew(lookup_value =A1, table_array =A1:B3, 
        col_index_num = 2, exactMatch =0, k=1) should return 1a

VLOOKUPnew(lookup_value =A1, table_array =A1:B3, 
        col_index_num = 2, exactMatch =0, k=2) should return 2a

VLOOKUPnew(lookup_value =A1, table_array =A1:B3, 
        col_index_num = 2, exactMatch =0, k=3) should return 3a

VLOOKUPnew(lookup_value =A3, table_array =A1:B3, 
        col_index_num = 2, exactMatch =0, k=1) should return 1b

VLOOKUPnew(lookup_value =A3, table_array =A1:B3, 
        col_index_num = 2, exactMatch =0, k=2) should return 2b

VLOOKUPnew(lookup_value =A3, table_array =A1:B3, 
        col_index_num = 2, exactMatch =0, k=3) should return error

I’m familiar with R and Matlab, so my thinking is vector oriented, I’ve first tried to write code for case witk k=1 or 2 by rewriting one line of code (from post I’m linking to) :

row = .Match(lookup_value, table_array.Columns(1), 0)

into :

If k =2 Then
row_1 = .Match(lookup_value, table_array.Columns(1), 0)
number_of_rows=table_array.Columns(1).Rows.Count

row = .Match(lookup_value, table_array.Columns(1).Rows( (row_1+1):number_of_rows ), 0)

above line is pseudocode because I don’t have any idea how to write it properly (.Rows( (row_1+1):number_of_rows ) is vector of numbers and it looks quite funny)

else
row = .Match(lookup_value, table_array.Columns(1), 0)
End If

for k > 2 it would be simple (but inefficient) to put this code into for loop.

I’ve noticed that modified .Match() which takes also k as parameter would make all job needed. Using loop for to find position of k-th occurance of value seems to be quite slow or mayby I’m just not very familiar with VBA.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    You may try out both of these Excel based formula: Adjust according to your data table.

    • Method 1:

    CountIF function allows you to count number of occurances of a lookup value in a column range.

    =COUNTIF(columnRange,lookupvalue)

    Assume this is what you may be looking for: Data extracted from the reference.

    CUST column is populated using =F78&COUNTIF($F$75:$F78,F78)

    Master Data Starts from `F75 to H84`    
Customer    CUST    Phone number
Smith   Smith1  320-966-4023
Smith   Smith2  686-612-7782
Jason   Jason1  122-617-7154
Albert  Albert1 547-436-7376
Nancy   Nancy1  956-633-7322
Smith   Smith3  132-716-5240
Grove   Grove1  340-267-0529
Andy    Andy1   531-413-4718
Jason   Jason2  613-228-4294
Nancy   Nancy2  272-525-2042

    Final nth Lookup:

    e.g. Phonenumber for 4th occurance for Customer = Smith

    =VLOOKUP($D$74&"4",$G$75:$H$93,2,FALSE)

    Lookup  
Customer    Smith
Phone number    
1st 320-966-4023
2nd 686-612-7782
3rd 132-716-5240
4th 185-813-8883

    Reference from Chandoo: 4. Lookup 2nd / 3rd / 4th occurrence of an item in a list.

    • Method 2:
      Sample data used for following formula:

    enter image description here

    Formula:

    =INDEX(ALTable,SMALL(IF(OFFSET(ALTable,0,0,ROWS(ALTable),1)=F90,
ROW(OFFSET(ALTable,0,0,ROWS(ALTable),1))-ROW(OFFSET(ALTable,0,0,1,1))+1,
ROW(OFFSET(ALTable,ROWS(ALTable)-1,0,1,1))+1),F91),2)

    Reference from CPearson Arbitary Lookups.
    Personally I don’t fancy volatile functions such as index()…though..

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