Question: I have an index match function that only needs 1 criteria, BUT there are potentially 5 different options for that single criteria. Is there a way to create the ability to go through the list of criteria iteratively until the match works outside of doing a series of nested if statements? I'm also hoping to avoid array formulas if possible because it slows down my workbook too much.

Current Concept being used: 

```
=INDEX(Array 1,IFERROR(MATCH(a,Array 2,0),
               IFERROR(MATCH(b,Array 2,0),
               IFERROR(MATCH(c,Array 2,0),
               IFERROR(MATCH(d,Array 2,0),MATCH(e,Array 2,0))))))

```

Answer: 
You formula works through a progression of possible [MATCH functions](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/match-function-0600e189-9f3c-4e4f-98c1-943a0eb427ca) and returns the first one in the series that does match. In this way, you will only ever get a single return or none at all.

If you were to put the a, b, c, d & e values into a constant array there would be the possibility of returning more than a single match but only one match can be returned back into the [INDEX function](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/index-function-0ee99cef-a811-4762-8cfb-a222dd31368a) that ultimately returns the value from Array\_1. You need to pare out a single return using MIN, MAX, SMALL, LARGE, etc from the array of zero, one or many returns.

```
=INDEX(Array_1, MIN(INDEX(ROW($1:$5)+(Array_2<>{"a","b","c","d","e"})*1E+99, , )))

```

[![index_Min_Index](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYYfe.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sYYfe.png)
Please correct me if I misunderstood, I think you are looking to find the row number that matches 5 different criteria? 

If so, you can do this: 

```
=MATCH(A1 & B1 & C1 & D1 & E1, ArrayA & ArrayB & ArrayC & ArrayD & ArrayE, 0)

```

This will check for a match for all 5 values then return the row number. You can then index the value to find your match. Make sure when you enter the entire formula, use `Ctrl-Shift-Enter` instead of a normal `Enter`.