Excel - Microsoft Excel Choose Function

Description

The Excel Choose function returns a value from a list, that corresponds to a supplied index number. 

It may help to think of the Choose function as a function that returns the nth entry in a given list. 

The syntax of the function is : 

CHOOSE( index_num, value1, [value2], ... ) 

where the arguments are as follows: 

In Excel 2007 or Excel 2010, up to 254 values can be supplied to the Choose function. However, in Excel 2003, you can only supply up to 29 values to the function. 

Excel Choose Function Examples

Imagine you are working on the spreadsheet below and you want to set the cells in Column B, to have the following values, depending on the value of the corresponding cell in Column A. 

1 - red; 2 - blue; 3 - green; 4 - brown 

The Excel Choose function can be used to assign the correct value to the cells of Column B, as shown below: 

Choose Function Errors

If you get an error from the Excel Choose Function, this is likely to be the #VALUE! error: 

Common Errors