VLOOKUP stands for ‘Vertical Lookup’. It is a function that makes Excel search for a certain value in a column (the so called ‘table array’), in order to return a value from a different column in the same row.
Contents
What is the use of VLOOKUP in Excel with examples?
The VLOOKUP function in Excel performs a case-insensitive lookup. For example, the VLOOKUP function below looks up MIA (cell G2) in the leftmost column of the table. Explanation: the VLOOKUP function is case-insensitive so it looks up MIA or Mia or mia or miA, etc.
The VLOOKUP function is most helpful when you’re trying to find a specific value in a large spreadsheet. The “V” in VLOOKUP stands for vertical, meaning Excel will scan for data points in columns instead of rows.
When should I use VLOOKUP?
Use VLOOKUP when you need to find things in a table or a range by row. For example, look up a price of an automotive part by the part number, or find an employee name based on their employee ID.
Is it possible to find grade by using VLOOKUP instead of if ()?
With a score provided as a lookup value, VLOOKUP will scan the first column of the table. If it finds an exact match, it will return the grade at that row.In other words, VLOOKUP will match the last value that is less than or equal to the lookup value.
Does VLOOKUP have to be in ascending order?
VLOOKUP relies on a reference to the entire database, MyData. It looks in the left-most column of MyData for the value in cell F3 and returns the results from the 3rd column of MyData. Because the range_lookup value was omitted, VLOOKUP uses an approximate match, which requires the data to be sorted in ascending order.
Is VLOOKUP hard to learn?
While Vlookup is only one function in the world of spreadsheet management, its perhaps the most valuable and impactful one you can learn. By the way, you can also use its sister function, Hlookup, to search for values in Horizontal rows instead of Vertical columns. Take 5 minutes and learn Vlookup.
What can I use instead of VLOOKUP?
INDEX and MATCH works very well if your lookup data is not in the first column, or you want to look to the left of the lookup data, rather than to the right, which is all VLOOKUP can do.
What is the difference between lookup and VLOOKUP?
The main difference between VLOOKUP and LOOKUP functions is the VLOOKUP is limited to vertical lookups only and the LOOKUP function has cross functionality which means that it can perform both vertical lookups and horizontal lookups.
What is VLOOKUP in simple terms?
VLOOKUP stands for ‘Vertical Lookup‘. It is a function that makes Excel search for a certain value in a column (the so called ‘table array’), in order to return a value from a different column in the same row.
What are the rules of VLOOKUP?
Vlookup Rules
- The data in the supplied table_array must be organised in columns.
- The function sees upper case and lower case text as being equal (i.e. a lookup of the string “TEXT” will match the string “text”).
- The Vlookup function does not recognise numbers and text representations of numbers as being equal.
How columns are Labelled in Excel?
By default, Excel uses the A1 reference style, which refers to columns as letters (A through IV, for a total of 256 columns), and refers to rows as numbers (1 through 65,536). These letters and numbers are called row and column headings. To refer to a cell, type the column letter followed by the row number.
How do you evaluate a Vlookup in Excel?
Excel has an inbuilt function — EVALUATE FORMULA — which enables you to do just that.
Method
- Click in the cell containing the formula.
- Click on the ‘Evaluate Formula’ command in the ribbon.
- The Evaluate Formula dialog box opens, displaying the formula.
Is Xlookup faster than VLOOKUP?
Compared to a normal VLOOKUP, the binary XLOOKUP is significantly faster. But a VLOOKUP with a approximate match is still a little bit faster. The binary XLOOKUP is slightly slower than an approximate VLOOKUP (~16% slower).
Can VLOOKUP return multiple rows?
Well, VLOOKUP is designed to return a single value, not multiple values. That is, VLOOKUP scans down the lookup range and stops at the first matching row … ignoring any additional matching rows. Once VLOOKUP finds a matching row, it shoots to the right to retrieve the related value from a single column.
What are the major limitations of VLOOKUP function explain any two?
Limitations of VLOOKUP
The values to lookup must always be on the left-most column of the range and the values to return must be on the right hand side. You cannot use the standard VLOOKUP to look at the columns and the rows to find an exact match.
Why are Vlookups so hard?
So why does vlookup suck for this purpose? #1 The column you’re matching on must be the first column in your selected range. If the values you want are to pull are to the LEFT of what you’re matching on, too bad. Real data sets are not always like phone books.
What prevents VLOOKUP from working?
One constraint of VLOOKUP is that it can only look for values on the left-most column in the table array. If your lookup value is not in the first column of the array, you will see the #N/A error.
Does formatting affect VLOOKUP?
Numbers are formatted as text
Another source N/A errors in VLOOKUP formulas is numbers being formatted as text, either in the main or lookup table.If multiple numbers are affected, select them all, right-click the selection, then choose Format Cells > Number tab > Number and click OK.
How do you explain VLOOKUP to a child?
Vlookup Defined
The job of the vlookup is to look for a value (either numbers or text) in a column. Once it finds a match, the vlookup will return a value from any cell in the same row as the match.