Use VLOOKUP Function Like a Pro in Microsoft Excel

Use VLOOKUP Like a Pro in Microsoft Excel

Need to look for values across the different spreadsheets and bring in the appropriate data?

Then, VLOOKUP is the function that should be used. It may be among Microsoft Excel's most sought-after and powerful tools that come into play when dealing with large datasets.

Whether it is price yields, address lists, or sales reports, VLOOKUP will rescue you from manually hunting down row after row. 

🔍 What Is VLOOKUP in Microsoft Excel?

VLOOKUP means Vertical Lookup. It searches for a value in the first column of a range while returning a value from some other column in the same row.

Basic Syntax:

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

• lookup_value: the value you want to search for

• table_array: the range of cells containing the value

• col_index_num: the column number in the table from which to retrieve the data 

• range_lookup: TRUE for approximate match; FALSE for exact match
  

📘 Step-By-Step Example: Lookup Product Price

Suppose you have a product code and want to find the price associated with it.

In another sheet or cell, enter:

=VLOOKUP("P102", A2:B4, 2, FALSE)

Given that Excel returns 20, this is the price for product P102.

Common Use Cases for VLOOKUP in Excel

• Match employees with IDs

• Pull product information by SKU

• Compare grades, costs, or sales data

• Auto-fill data from another sheet

✅ Important Tips for VLOOKUP

• The lookup value must be set in the outermost left column of your reference range

• Use FALSE for an exact match, else you may get erroneous results

• VLOOKUP is not case sensitive

• As soon as the data structure changes, VLOOKUP in general breaks, so you may want to use the INDEX-MATCH combination instead.

Alternate: Using Named Ranges

Instead of referring to A2:B1000, create a named range: ProductList and use the formula:

=VLOOKUP("P101", ProductList, 2, FALSE)

This increases the readability of your formula tremendously and is much easier to maintain.

Be extremely proficient in VLOOKUP, and you will begin saving hours of manual work, standardising errors, and working extremely efficiently on all Microsoft Excel platforms!

🎓 Learn More with Other Levels

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• 🌐 Visit our Other Levels Website

• 📺 Watch free tutorials on our Other Levels YouTube Channel, and learn Microsoft Excel from beginner to advanced.
  

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