How to identify missing numbers sequence in Excel?

Let's say you have a long list of sequence numbers to mark items, such as check numbers in bank statements, normally we scrolling through and locate the missing sequence numbers manually. Sometimes this is quite arduous and time-consuming. You may think of tricky ways to deal with it. Yes, there are several easy ways to identify and locate missing numbers sequence in Excel 2007, Excel 2010, and Excel 2013 quickly and conveniently.

Identify missing numbers sequence with IF formula

Identify missing numbers sequence with an array formula

Identify missing numbers sequence with Kutools for Excel quickly

Insert unique sequence numbers to cells with Kutools for Excel

Identify missing numbers sequence with IF formula

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As we all known, most of sequence numbers are with fixed increment of 1, such as 1, 2, 3, …, N. Therefore, if you can identify the number is not less 1 than its following number, there is a missing number.

We will show you the tutorials with an example as following screenshot shows:

1. In a blank cell, enter the formula of =IF(A2-A1=1,"","Missing"), and press the Enter key. In this case, we enter the formula in Cell C1.

If there is no missing numbers, this formula will return nothing; if missing numbers exist, it will return the text of "Missing" in active cell.

2. Select the cell C1 and drag the fill handle over the range of cells that you want to contain this formula. Now it identifies the missing numbers with the text of "Missing" in corresponding cells of Column C. See the following screenshot:

Identify missing numbers sequence with an array formula

Sometimes it requires not only identifying missing numbers sequence, but also listing missing numbers too. You can deal it with following steps:

1. in the adjacent cell, please enter the formula = SMALL(IF(ISNA(MATCH(ROW(A$1:A$30),A$1:A$30,0)),ROW(A$1:A$30)),ROW(A1))

A1:A30 = range of numbers

The sequence to check against is 1 to 30

2. Press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter Keys together to finish the formula. Copy down the formula until you get #NUM! errors meaning all missing numbers have been listed. See screenshot:

Identify missing numbers sequence with Kutools for Excel quickly

The above methods only can identify the missing pure number sequence, if you have the sequence such as AA-1001-BB, AA-1002-BB, they may not work successfully. But, don't worry, Kutools for Excel’s powerful feature – Find Missing Sequence Number can help you quickly identify the missing sequence.

After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as follows:（ Free Download Kutools for Excel Now ）

1. Select the data sequence that you want to find the missing sequence.

2. Click Kutools > Insert > Find Missing Sequence Number, see screenshot:

3. In the Find Missing Sequence Number dialog box, choose one option that you want to deal with the missing sequence number, this example, I will check Inserting new column with following missing marker. See screenshot:

4. Then click OK button, all the missing sequence numbers have been marked with Missing in a new column next to your data, see screenshot:

Note:

With this Find Missing Sequence Number utility, you can also finish the following operations:

Insert the missing sequence numbers into the exiting data;

Insert blank rows when encountering missing sequence number;

Shade the missing sequence number with background color.

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Insert unique sequence numbers to cells with Kutools for Excel

Sometimes, you may need to insert a list of unique continuous sequence numbers with specific prefix and suffix, such as KTE-201500001-Order, KTE-201500002-Order, KTE-201500003-Order…, how could you generate theses consecutive numbers quickly and easily in Excel workbook?

After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as follows:（ Free Download Kutools for Excel Now ）

1. Select a list of cells that you want to insert the sequence numbers.

2. Click Kutools > Insert > Insert Sequence Number, see screenshot:

3. In the Insert Sequence Number dialog box, click New button to start create the sequence numbers, see screenshot:

4. Then the Insert Sequence Number dialog will be expanded, in the left bottom pane, create your own sequential numbers as you need. You should type the sequence name, start number, increment, number of digits, and then enter the prefix or suffix as you like. At the same time, you can preview the result of your customized sequence in the right bottom list box. See screenshot:

5. Then click Add button to add this customized sequence into above list box, select the item you are created, and click Fill Range button, see screenshot:

6. Now, the sequence numbers have been inserted the selected cells as following screenshot shown:

Notes:

1. You can generate other sequence numbers just by clicking New button to create a new one.

2. The unique sequence numbers can be insert into contiguous cells and non-contiguous ranges in different worksheets and workbooks followed by the previous inserted number.

Click to know more about this Insert Sequence Number feature.

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