Excel Tutorial – VLOOKUP

The VLOOKUP function in Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool that allows you to search for and retrieve specific data from a table or range of cells. It is a useful function to use when you need to search for a specific value within a spreadsheet and return a corresponding value from a different column in the same row.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the VLOOKUP function in Microsoft Excel:

1. Open a new or existing spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.
2. Identify the table or range of cells that contains the data you want to search through. This table is known as the lookup table.
3. Determine the column that contains the value you want to search for, known as the lookup value.
4. Determine the column that contains the value you want to return, known as the return value.
5. Select the cell where you want to enter the VLOOKUP function.
6. Type the =VLOOKUP( formula and press the Enter key.
7. In the VLOOKUP formula, enter the lookup value as the first argument. This is the value you want to search for within the lookup table. Enclose the lookup value in quotation marks if it is a text string.
8. Enter the lookup table as the second argument. This can be a range of cells or a named range.
9. Enter the column number of the return value as the third argument. This is the column in the lookup table that contains the value you want to return.
10. Specify whether the lookup table is sorted in ascending or descending order by entering TRUE or FALSE as the fourth argument. If the table is sorted in ascending order, enter TRUE. If the table is sorted in descending order, enter FALSE.
11. Press the Enter key to complete the VLOOKUP function. The return value will be displayed in the selected cell.

Here is an example of a VLOOKUP formula:

=VLOOKUP("John", A2:D5, 3, TRUE)

This formula searches for the value “John” in the first column of the range A2:D5. If it finds a match, it returns the value in the third column of the same row. The fourth argument, TRUE, specifies that the lookup table is sorted in ascending order.

You can also use the VLOOKUP function to search for a value within a vertical range of cells (a column) and return a value from a different row in the same column. To do this, you can use the COLUMN function in the third argument of the VLOOKUP formula. The COLUMN function returns the column number of a reference.

For example, if you want to search for a value in the first column of a range and return a value from the second column in the same row, you can use the following VLOOKUP formula:

=VLOOKUP("John", A2:B5, COLUMN(B1), TRUE)

This formula searches for the value “John” in the first column of the range A2:B5. If it finds a match, it returns the value in the second column of the same row. The COLUMN function returns the column number of cell B1, which is 2.

I hope this tutorial helps you understand how to use the VLOOKUP function in Microsoft Excel