Microsoft Office (Session 04)

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VLOOKUP

VLOOKUP Function Deep Dive

VLOOKUP is a powerful Excel function used to search for a specific value in a leftmost column (lookup table) and return a corresponding value from a different column within the same row.

Understanding the VLOOKUP Formula:

The VLOOKUP formula has four arguments:

lookup_value:

The value you want to find in the leftmost column of the table.

table_array:

The range of cells containing the table data (including headers).

col_index_num:

The column number within the table_array that contains the value you want to return.

[range_lookup]:

(Optional) Specifies exact match (FALSE) or approximate match (TRUE). Defaults to TRUE.

Breaking Down the Arguments:

lookup_value:

This can be a text string, a number, or a cell reference containing the value you want to search for.

table_array:

This is the range of cells that includes the data you want to search within. It’s crucial to include the header row in this range.

col_index_num:

This is the column number within the table_array that contains the data you want to retrieve. Make sure you count correctly, including the leftmost column (usually column 1) as number 1.

[range_lookup]:

This optional argument determines how VLOOKUP handles matches. By default (TRUE), it performs an approximate match, returning the closest value that is greater than or equal to the lookup_value. Setting it to FALSE forces an exact match, returning the corresponding value only if it perfectly matches the lookup_value.

Example:

Imagine you have a product list with columns for “Product Name,” “Price,” and “Quantity.” You want to find the price of “Apples” in this list. Here’s how to use VLOOKUP:

Excel=VLOOKUP(“Apples”, A1:C10, 2, FALSE)

  • lookup_value: “Apples” (the product name you want to find)
  • table_array: A1:C10 (the range of your product list, including headers)
  • col_index_num: 2 (the “Price” column where you want to retrieve the value)
  • range_lookup: FALSE (ensures an exact match for “Apples”)

This formula will search for “Apples” in the “Product Name” column (A1:A10) and, if found, return the corresponding price from the “Price” column (column number 2).

Real-World Applications:

VLOOKUP is a versatile tool used in various scenarios:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM):

Find customer information (phone number, email) based on their ID number.

Inventory Management:

Look up product details (price, stock level) based on product codes.

Finance:

Retrieve specific financial data (interest rate, balance) for different accounts based on account numbers.

HLOOKUP:

Here are some important notes for using HLOOKUP in Excel:

Search Direction:

HLOOKUP performs a horizontal lookup. It searches for a value in the topmost row (first row) of a table called the “table_array” and retrieves a corresponding value from the same column in a specified row below.

Lookup Value:

The lookup value you want to find must be present in the first row of the table_array.

HLOOKUP is case-insensitive, so “apple” and “APPLE” are considered the same.

You can use wildcards (* and ?) for partial text matches if your lookup value is text.

Match Type:

By default (or if set to TRUE), HLOOKUP performs an approximate match. This means it will return the closest value in the first row that is less than or equal to the lookup value, if an exact match isn’t found. However, it will still return an exact match if one exists.

To force an exact match, set the “range_lookup” argument to FALSE. In this case, the first row of the table_array must be sorted in ascending order (A to Z) for HLOOKUP to work correctly.

Additional Notes:
  • HLOOKUP can only search from the leftmost column (column A) to the right.
  • Consider using the newer XLOOKUP function for more flexibility as it can search in any direction and performs exact matches by default.

XLOOKUP:

Here are some helpful notes for using XLOOKUP in Excel:

Versatility:

XLOOKUP is a powerful and versatile function that replaces VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP in many cases. It can perform both vertical and horizontal lookups. You can search for a value in any column and return a value from a different column in the same row or a different row altogether.

Matching & Lookups:

XLOOKUP performs exact matches by default, unlike VLOOKUP’s default approximate match. This can prevent unexpected results.

You can control the match type using the match_mode argument. It allows for exact matches, closest matches (approximate), and wildcard partial matches.

XLOOKUP can also search in reverse order (from last to first) for matches.

Error Handling:

By default, XLOOKUP returns #N/A for unmatched values.

You can provide a custom message using the if_not_found argument for a more informative result.

Error Handling:

XLOOKUP works with both arrays and ranges.

It can return entire rows or columns of data, not just single values.

The size of the lookup_array and return_array must be compatible, otherwise, XLOOKUP will return an error.

XLOOKUP is not available in Excel 2016 and 2019, but you may encounter workbooks containing XLOOKUP formulas created in newer versions.

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