Support Required: Finding Matching Number Combinations

You have two sets of numbers, and you want to find which combination(s) of numbers (from one or both sets) sum to a specific target value — right?
This is a subset sum problem, which Excel can handle in a few ways (depending on how complex your data is).

Formula-only (if you need Excel formulas)

If your dataset is small (say ≤ 15 items), you can use array formulas.

Suppose:

• Numbers are in A2:A10
• Target sum is in C1

You can test for matching subsets using a brute-force enumeration approach, but Excel formulas alone can’t easily “iterate” through all combinations. However, you can highlight matching combinations with formulas.

For example:

=IF(SUM($A$2:$A$10)=C1,"Exact Match","")

…but that only checks if the whole range sums to the target, not combinations.

So for pure formulas, the best you can do is use SUMIF/SUMIFS if you have grouping logic (like matching IDs or categories).

If you want use Excel’s built-in Solver

This is the most reliable and flexible method for finding combinations that sum to a specific value.

Example

Say your numbers are in A2:A10, and your target sum is in C1.

Steps

In column B2:B10, create binary selection cells — they’ll indicate whether each number is included:

B2: =IF(A2="","",0)

(Then copy down to B10.)

Create a sum formula to compute the total of selected numbers:

    C2: =SUMPRODUCT(A2:A10, B2:B10)

    Go to Data → Solver (you might need to enable it in Add-ins first).

    Set up Solver:

        Set Objective: $C$2

        To: Value Of: and enter your target value (e.g. $C$1)

        By Changing Variable Cells: $B$2:$B$10

        Add Constraints:

            $B$2:$B$10 = binary (you can set this under "Add → bin" for binary values)

    Click Solve.

Solver will set 1s and 0s in column B to identify the combination of numbers in column A that add up to your target.

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Hope this will help you.