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VLOOKUP

The older lookup you will still meet in real files

0 of 3 done · Lesson 9 of 18

Understand

VLOOKUP has been in every workplace spreadsheet for twenty years, so you will inherit files full of it whether you like it or not. It takes a whole table and a column number, counted from the left edge of that table, which is where most of its problems come from.

=VLOOKUP(who to find, the whole table, which column, counting from the left, FALSE for an exact match, optional)

A worked example

=VLOOKUP(F1, A2:D9, 2, FALSE)
who to findthe whole tablewhich column, counting from the leftFALSE for an exact match

This returns Fernway

The sheet you are working with

Sheet for VLOOKUP
Row numberABCDEF
1OrderCustomerRegionAmountFind order1047
21042NorthwindOtago1250  
31043Kea LtdWaikato840  
41044HalcyonOtago2110  
51045BrightsmithAuckland560  
61046TuataraWaikato1780  
71047FernwayOtago930  
81048PounamuNelson1420  
91049Rimu CoOtago1120