Mastering VLOOKUP and Advanced VLOOKUP Functions in Excel | Learn Excel with Vaidhvik

Mastering VLOOKUP and Advanced VLOOKUP Functions in Excel,

 

VLOOKUP and Advanced VLOOKUP Functions in Excel

VLOOKUP (Vertical Lookup) is a powerful Excel function used to search for a value in the leftmost column of a table and return the corresponding value from a specified column.

Basic Syntax:

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

• lookup_value: The value you want to find in the leftmost column of the table.
• table_array: The range of cells containing the data.
• col_index_num: The column number from which you want to return the value.
• range_lookup: Optional. Specifies whether to find an exact match (FALSE) or an approximate match (TRUE).

Example: If you have a table with names in column A and their corresponding ages in column B, you can use VLOOKUP to find the age of a person named "John":

=VLOOKUP("John", A2:B10, 2, FALSE)

Advanced VLOOKUP Techniques:

1. Approximate Match: Set range_lookup to TRUE to find the closest match to the lookup_value if an exact match is not found. This is useful for sorted data.
2. Multiple Criteria: Use INDEX and MATCH functions together to perform VLOOKUP with multiple criteria.
3. Error Handling: Use the IFERROR function to handle errors that might occur during the VLOOKUP process.
4. Dynamic Ranges: Use named ranges or functions like OFFSET or INDEX to create dynamic ranges for VLOOKUP.

Example of Advanced VLOOKUP with Multiple Criteria:

=INDEX(B2:B10, MATCH(1, (A2:A10="John")*(C2:C10="Sales"), 0))

This formula finds the age of a person named "John" who is in the "Sales" department.

Remember: VLOOKUP only works when the lookup column (the leftmost column of the table) is sorted in ascending order. If your data is not sorted, you might need to use other functions like INDEX and MATCH.

Advanced VLOOKUP Techniques: Example with Multiple Criteria

Let's say you have a table with the following data:

Name	Department	Age
John	Sales	30
Mary	Marketing	25
Alex	HR	35
David	Sales	28

To find the age of a person named "John" who is in the "Sales" department, you can use the following formula:

=INDEX(C2:C10, MATCH(1, (A2:A10="John")*(B2:B10="Sales"), 0))

Here's a breakdown of how the formula works:

1. INDEX(C2:C10, ...): This part of the formula specifies the range of cells from which you want to return a value. In this case, we want to return the value from column C (Age).
2. MATCH(1, ...): This part of the formula searches for the first occurrence of a value that meets the specified criteria.
3. (A2:A10="John")*(B2:B10="Sales"): This creates an array of 1s and 0s. A 1 is returned if both conditions (Name = "John" and Department = "Sales") are met, and a 0 is returned otherwise.
4. MATCH(1, ...): The MATCH function searches for the first occurrence of the number 1 in the array created in step 3. This indicates the row number where both conditions are met.
5. INDEX(C2:C10, ...): Finally, the INDEX function returns the value from column C (Age) at the row number found in step 4.

This formula effectively combines the INDEX and MATCH functions to perform a VLOOKUP with multiple criteria.