Skip to main content

 How to find highest value in a row and return column header in Excel?

In this article, I will talk about how to return the column header of the largest value in a row in Excel. For Example, I have the following data range, column A is the year, and column B to F are populated the order numbers from Jan to May. And now, I want to get the month name of the largest value in each row.

doc-get-column-header-1

Find highest value in a row and return column header with formula

arrow blue right bubble Find highest value in a row and return column header with formula

To retrieve the column header of the largest value in a row, you can apply a combination of INDEX, MATCH and MAX functions to get the result. Please do as follows:

1. Enter this formula into a blank cell you need: =INDEX($B$1:$F$1,0,MATCH(MAX($B2:$F2),$B2:$F2,0)), and then press Enter key to get the month name which matches the largest value in a row. See screenshot:

doc-get-column-header-2

2. And then select the cell and drag the fill handle over to the range that you want to contain this formula, see screenshot:

doc-get-column-header-3

Note: In the above formula: B1: F1 is the headers row that you want to return, B2: F2 is the data range which contains the largest value you want to find.

Related article:

How to find the highest value and return adjacent cell value in Excel?

Best Office Productivity Tools

🤖 Kutools AI Aide: Revolutionize data analysis based on: Intelligent Execution   |  Generate Code  |  Create Custom Formulas  |  Analyze Data and Generate Charts  |  Invoke Kutools Functions…
Popular Features: Find, Highlight or Identify Duplicates   |  Delete Blank Rows   |  Combine Columns or Cells without Losing Data   |   Round without Formula ...
Super Lookup: Multiple Criteria VLookup  |   Multiple Value VLookup  |   VLookup Across Multiple Sheets   |   Fuzzy Lookup ....
Advanced Drop-down List: Quickly Create Drop Down List   |  Dependent Drop Down List   |  Multi-select Drop Down List ....
Column Manager: Add a Specific Number of Columns  |  Move Columns  |  Toggle Visibility Status of Hidden Columns  |  Compare Ranges & Columns ...
Featured Features: Grid Focus   |  Design View   |   Big Formula Bar   |  Workbook & Sheet Manager   |  Resource Library (Auto Text)   |  Date Picker   |  Combine Worksheets   |  Encrypt/Decrypt Cells   |  Send Emails by List   |  Super Filter   |   Special Filter (filter bold/italic/strikethrough...) ...
Top 15 Toolsets:  12 Text Tools (Add Text, Remove Characters, ...)   |   50+ Chart Types (Gantt Chart, ...)   |   40+ Practical Formulas (Calculate age based on birthday, ...)   |   19 Insertion Tools (Insert QR Code, Insert Picture from Path, ...)   |   12 Conversion Tools (Numbers to Words, Currency Conversion, ...)   |   7 Merge & Split Tools (Advanced Combine Rows, Split Cells, ...)   |   ... and more

Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time.  Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...

Description

Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier

  • Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
  • Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
  • Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!
Comments (26)
No ratings yet. Be the first to rate!
Ted
Ted
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Can you do this with a MAXIFS function?
Reply
0
0
skyyang
skyyang     Ted
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hello, Ted,
In this case, here can't use the MAXIFS function. In Excel, the MAXIFS function is used to return the largest number in a column based on one or more criteria.
Please click to know more about this MAXIFS fucntion..., it explains this function clearly and detailedly.
Thank you!
Reply
Report
0
0
your name
your name
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
What if there are 2 same highest value, how can i return both column headers, for example the sales for both april and august are 30k, how can i return the name of both april and august
Reply
0
0
skyyang
skyyang     your name
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hello, To return all the column headers with multiple higest values, you should apply the below User Defined Function.
Function getmax(rngRst As Range, rngVal As Range) As String
Dim i As Integer
Dim xNum As Double
Dim xStr As String
xNum = Application.WorksheetFunction.Max(rngVal)
For i = 1 To rngVal.Count
If rngVal(i).Value = xNum Then
xStr = xStr & rngRst(i).Value & ","
End If
Next
getmax = Left(xStr, Len(xStr) - 1)
End Function

Please copy the above code into the VBA module, and then use the below formula to get the first result, and then drag the fill handle down to return other column headers.=getmax($B$1:$H$1,B2:H2)

Please try, hope it can help you!
View Attachments (1 / 5)
Reply
Report
0
0
aj942e
aj942e
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi, I have attendance sheet. First column heading is names and rest columns for dates.
Names columns shows names in rows and dates columns shows p (present) H (weekoff) L (leave)
It's for 23 people.
and at last I have made total presents in a day, then total leaves and then total weekoffs.
"Now I am searching the way where I can click on total present numbers and get list of all names who are present in a particular day."
I tried many ways but no luck.
first columns names, second shows if they were present or leave or on week offs.Is there anyway where I can get list of all names who are present or on leave?Any formula?
Reply
Report
0
0
saad101
saad101
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
how can i modify this logic to show me all the records in one row where a value in all selected columns are greater than 1
Reply
Report
0
0
saad
saad
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
how can i modify this logic to show all the column header in a single row where the value is > 1?
Reply
0
0
Marwan
Marwan     saad
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Did you figure this out
Reply
0
0
big dave
big dave     Marwan
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
yoh you are so late man .  year has passed XD
Reply
0
0
vireb
vireb
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Thank for this. It helped. Does it work the same way for a range of cells instead of just a row? I am trying to get the formula to return the column header (month) of the largest and smallest value in a range of cells? This is what I tried =INDEX($B$4:$M$4,0,MATCH(MAX($B5:$M42),$B5:$M42,0)) but it gives a #N/A answer
Reply
Report
0
0
Fernando
Fernando
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
What happens if you have duplicate values in a row and you want the latest value's header. Is this possible?
The current formula only returns the first match, but in my case I need to know the latest one
Reply
0
0
Hemanta Das
Hemanta Das     Fernando
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
hi. having same issue. Pls do reply if u have found the way out.
Reply
0
0
sierranord@gmail.com
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
You're Aces Kid !!! ... this example worked perfect for my application: =INDEX($B$1:$F$1,0,MATCH(MAX($B2:$F2),$B2:$F2,0))

ISA 40:31
Reply
Report
0
0
Janice Matthies
Janice Matthies
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Thank you so much!!!
Reply
0
0
Kirthika
Kirthika
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi, am trying to find lowest value in a row and the highest value on the corresponding column. Is there a formula or shortcut to find this. Please guide
Reply
0
0
There are no comments posted here yet
Load More
Please leave your comments in English
Guest
Posting as Guest
×
Rate this post:
Reset
0   Characters
Suggested Locations