The VLOOKUP (Vertical Lookup) function in Microsoft Excel is used to search for a value in the first column of a range or table and return a value in the same row from another column. It’s particularly useful when you need to find data in large tables where the lookup value is in the leftmost column.
Syntax:
VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])
Arguments:
1. lookup_value: The value you want to search for in the first column of your data range.
2. table_array: The range of cells that contains the data (including the column with the value you’re searching for and the column with the result you want to retrieve).
3. col_index_num: The column number in the table_array from which to retrieve the value. The first column in the range is 1, the second is 2, and so on.
4. [range_lookup]: (Optional) A logical value that specifies whether to look for an exact match (FALSE) or an approximate match (TRUE). If omitted, the default is TRUE (approximate match).
Example:
Suppose you have a table with employee IDs and names:
Employee ID Name
101 John
102 Sarah
103 Michael
To look up the name of the employee with ID 102:
=VLOOKUP(102, A2:B4, 2, FALSE)
This formula will search for 102 in the first column (A2:A4) and return the value from the second column (B2:B4), which is “Sarah.”
Key Points:
• VLOOKUP can only search in the first column of the range and return results from columns to the right.
• If range_lookup is set to FALSE, VLOOKUP will find an exact match. If it’s set to TRUE or omitted, it will find the closest match that is less than or equal to the lookup value.