Explanation
Normally, the MATCH function receives a single lookup value, and returns a single match if any. In this case, however, we are giving MATCH an array for lookup value, so it will return an array of results, one per element in the lookup array. MATCH is configured for "exact match". If a match isn't found, MATCH will return the #N/A error. After match runs, it returns have something like this:
=SUMPRODUCT(--(ISNA({3;5;6;2;#N/A;4})))>0
We take advantage of this by using the ISNA function to test for any #N/A errors.
After ISNA, we have:
=SUMPRODUCT(--({FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE}))>0
We use the double negative (double unary) operator to convert TRUE FALSE values to ones and zeros, which gives us this:
=SUMPRODUCT({0;0;0;0;1;0})>0
SUMPRODUCT then sums the elements in the array, and the result is compared to zero for force a TRUE or FALSE result.
Related formulas
Value exists in a range
Range contains one of many values
Related functions
MATCH Function
MATCH is an Excel function used to locate the position of a lookup value in a row, column, or table. MATCH supports approximate and exact matching, and wildcards (* ?) for partial matches. Often, MATCH is combined with the...
ISNA Function
The Excel ISNA function returns TRUE when a cell contains the #N/A error and FALSE for any other value, or any other error type. You can use the ISNA function with the IF function test for #N/A and display a friendly message if the error occurs.
