What does vlookup function do

Note: The Lookup Wizard feature is no longer available in Excel. Here's an example of how to use VLOOKUP. =VLOOKUP(B2,C2:E7,3,TRUE) In this example, B2 is the first argument—an element of data that the function needs to work. For VLOOKUP, this first argument is the value that you want to find. This argument can be a cell reference, or a fixed value such as "smith" or 21,000. The second argument is the range of cells, C2-:E7, in which to search for the value you want to find. The third argument is the column in that range of cells that contains the value that you seek. The fourth argument is optional. Enter either TRUE or FALSE. If you enter TRUE, or leave the argument blank, the function returns an approximate match of the value you specify in the first argument. If you enter FALSE, the function will match the value provide by the first argument. In other words, leaving the fourth argument blank—or entering TRUE—gives you more flexibility. This example shows you how the function works. When you enter a value in cell B2 (the first argument), VLOOKUP searches the cells in the range C2:E7 (2nd argument) and returns the closest approximate match from the third column in the range, column E (3rd argument). The fourth argument is empty, so the function returns an approximate match. If it didn't, you'd have to enter one of the values in columns C or D to get a result at all. When you're comfortable with VLOOKUP, the HLOOKUP function is equally easy to use. You enter the same argu...

This Tutorial Covers: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • VLOOKUP Function – Introduction VLOOKUP function is THE benchmark. You know something in Excel if you know how to use the VLOOKUP function. If you don’t, you better not list Excel as one of your strong areas in your resume. I have been a part of the panel interviews where as soonas the candidate mentioned Excel as his area of expertise, the first thing asked was – you got it – the VLOOKUP function. Now that we know how important this Excel function is, it makes sense to ace it completely to be able to proudly say –“I know a thing or two in Excel”. This is going to be a massive VLOOKUP tutorial (by my standards). I’ll cover everything there is to know about it, and then show you useful and practical VLOOKUP examples. So buckle up. It’s time for the takeoff. When to use the VLOOKUP Function in Excel? VLOOKUP function is best suited for situations when you are looking for a matching data point in a column, and when the matching data point is found, you go to the right in that row and fetch a value from a cell which is a specified number of columns to the right. Let’s take a simple example here to understand when to use Vlookup in Excel. Remember when the exam score list was out and pasted on the notice board and everyone used to go crazy finding their names and their score (at leastthat’s what used to happen when I was in school). Here is how it worked: • You go up to the notice board and start looking for your name or e...

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What is Vlookup? Many users have heard of the Excel Vlookup function but are not clear about what it does. Therefore, this page aims to answer the common question "What is Vlookup in Excel?" Vlookup (short for 'vertical' lookup) is a built-in Excel function that is designed to work with data that is organised into columns. For a specified value, the function finds (or 'looks up') the value in one column of data, and returns the corresponding value from another column. This best explained through the following example. Vlookup Example Imagine that your company keeps a spreadsheet of employee hourly rates of pay (see 'Hourly Pay' spreadsheet below). At the end of each week, the sales team manager sends you a list of hours worked by each of his staff during the week (see 'Sales Team Hours' spreadsheet below). It is your job to complete the 'Sales Team Hours' spreadsheet, to show the pay owed to each member of the sales team. In order to calculate the pay owed to each sales team member, you first need to look up the hourly rate of pay for each person and insert this into column C of the 'Sales Team Hours' spreadsheet. This can be done using the Excel Vlookup function. As illustrated below, if the Vlookup function is entered into cell C2 of the 'Sales Team Hours' spreadsheet, this can look up the name "Benson, Paul" in column A of the 'Hourly Pay' spreadsheet and return the corresponding rate of pay from column B. Therefore, in this example, the Vlookup function returns the val...

You can use the VLOOKUP function in Excel to look up a specific value in a range and return the corresponding value in another range. This function uses the following basic syntax: VLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup]) where: • lookup_value: The value to look up • table_array: The range of cells to look in • col_index_num: The column number that contains the return value • range_lookup: TRUE = look for approximate match, FALSE = look for exact match By using a value of TRUE for the last argument in the VLOOKUP function, you can look for an approximate match of the lookup value. If an exact match can’t be found of the lookup value, the approximate match is the next largest value in the range that is less than your lookup value. In order for the correct approximate match to be found, the first column in the range is assumed to be sorted either numerically or alphabetically. The following example shows how to use the VLOOKUP function in Excel to look for an approximate match. Example: Use VLOOKUP with Approximate Match in Excel Suppose we have the following dataset in Excel that contains information about various basketball players: Suppose we would like to use the VLOOKUP function to look up the value of 28 in the points column and return the corresponding team name. We can type the following formula into cell E2 to do so: =VLOOKUP( F1, A1:C11, 3, TRUE) The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice: The formula finds the valu...

The VLOOKUP function is one of the Lookup & reference functions of Excel. It looks for a value in the leftmost column of a table and then returns a value in the same row from a column you specify. By default, the table must be sorted in ascending order. We can find this function in Lookup & reference category ofinsert function Tab. 7. In function arguments Tab, you will see VLOOKUPfunction. 8. Lookup value is the value to be found in the first column of the table, and can be a value, a reference, or a text string. 9. Table_array is a table of text, numbers, or logical values, in which data is retrieved. Table_array can be a reference to a range or a range name. 10. Col_index_num is the column number in table array from which the matching value should be returned. The first column of values in the table is column 1. 11. Range lookup is a logical value: to find the closest match in the first column (sorted in ascending order) = TRUE or omitted; find an exact match = FALSE. Example 5: What is the difference between an exact match and an approximate match in VLOOKUP? Example 6: Does the VLOOKUP function find all the desired items in the table or only the first value? This function only finds the first case that meets the desired condition. In the example below, there are three nouns called “Noah”, and the Vlookup function only searches for the first one. This function has just 4 Arguments. Lookup value is the value to be found in the first column of the table Table_array is a ...

Tip: Try using the new VLOOKUP is one of the most popular, useful functions in Excel, but it’s hard to remember the formula if you don’t use it that often. If all you want is the syntax for VLOOKUP, here it is: VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,[range_lookup]) To download a reference card that explains what the arguments mean and how to use them, click the link below. The VLOOKUP reference card opens as a PDF file in Need more help? You can always ask an expert in the See Also