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 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?

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Comments (26)
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MikeS
MikeS
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Great thank you, I'd have strugled creating that formula myself, kind of you to share.
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Murtaza
Murtaza     MikeS
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Thanks. I would like to know how can this function work if there are multiple cells in a row with the same value ? Is it possible to return multiple column headers in the target cell ?
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Siba
Siba     Murtaza
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i have same requirement, pls let me know if you found the answer, thx
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Joseph
Joseph
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Is it possible to have this function work with multiple tabs on the same spreadsheet?
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THANK YOU
THANK YOU
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OMFG THIS ARTICLE JUST SAVED ME HOURS OF WORK TODAY THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS SOLUTION. YOU ARE TRULY A GENIUS AND THIS METHOD IS MUCH APPRECIATED!!!! 10/10
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Liz
Liz
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How can I do this if I want to return a row header rather than column header? I would also like to base the row number on a value in another cell that matches the column header. (So, look up column header and max value in that column, return the row header for that max value).
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Stephanie
Stephanie
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Hi, i want to make a list with names and grades and i want to find the 3 highest grades and the names that go with them i used the formula =INDEX(A3:A13,MATCH(LARGE(K3:K13,2),K3:K13,0)) but if two people have the same grade what happens??? can someone help me????
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Victoria
Victoria     Stephanie
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Hello, Did you find a solution?
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dave
dave
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hi, i am having trouble finding an "unquote" :) column number for where the maximun number is. if i use columns M9 thru Q9 and the max is in the middle column: O9, that is the 3rd column in that range. i cannot put 1 2 3 4 5 in the header cells as they get values pasted over. if this is the same formula as above, how do i modify it to get a result eg: 3 for 3rd column in. thanks. =INDEX(M1:Q1,0,MATCH(MAX(M9:Q9),M9:Q9,0))
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dave
dave
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pardon: think my message dissappeard (2nd copy?) hi, i am trying to find the column number of a max number in 1 row of 5 cells. if i start from M9 to Q9 and the max number is in the middle cell: O9 the result looking for would be: 3. i cannot change the header cells to have: 1 2 3 4 5 as they get values pasted over.. if this is the same formula as above. how to i modify it to use column locations instead of header values. thanks: =INDEX(M1:Q1,0,MATCH(MAX(M9:Q9),M9:Q9,0))
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Sean
Sean
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Thank you! very helpful!
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Kirthika
Kirthika
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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
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Janice Matthies
Janice Matthies
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Thank you so much!!!
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Trickshot Films
Trickshot Films
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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
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Fernando
Fernando
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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
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Hemanta Das
Hemanta Das     Fernando
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hi. having same issue. Pls do reply if u have found the way out.
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srosewall
srosewall
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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
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saad
saad
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how can i modify this logic to show all the column header in a single row where the value is > 1?
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Marwan
Marwan     saad
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Did you figure this out
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big dave
big dave     Marwan
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yoh you are so late man .  year has passed XD
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saad
saad
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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
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Amit JAIN
Amit JAIN
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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?
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your name
your name
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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
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skyyang
skyyang     your name
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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!
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Ted
Ted
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Can you do this with a MAXIFS function?
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skyyang
skyyang     Ted
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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!
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