Actually it's pretty simple although some of the so called Gurus usually try to make you think it's a mystery.
VLOOKUP consists of four different parts, out of which one is optional (we haven't mentioned that in the video as it's not important):
- What Do I Search (the so called lookup value)
- Where Should I Search (the so called table array)
- Which Value Should I return - number of column please (the so called column index number)
- and finally (and optionally): Do you want an exact or an approximate match (the so called range lookup)
Interesting and most misunderstood is the fourth part, the range lookup.
It simply tells Excel, if you can't find an exact match take the closest one that was already reached.
Two things to keep in mind here:
- The latter description about approximate values of course usually works only with numbers, wouldn't make sense with any text, right?
- The first argument - the lookup value / What Do I Search - needs ALWAYS (!) to be left of the VLOOKUP formula you enter.
Hope you liked this little extension to the video on YouTube. If so, leave a comment, question or like here or - preferred - on YouTube.
More interesting Excel Lookup stuff is about to come!!!
Excel Vlookup
