
- #How to use vlookup in excel step by step how to#
- #How to use vlookup in excel step by step download#
Now because we want to base our search on Item ID IN0007, so we type this value as first parameter: Whether to look for approximate results or not (optional).Column index of the result that we are seeking (required).Cell range where the search is to be conducted (required).Now, to begin the formula, type equal to sign ( = ) in the cell and then type VLOOKUP and begin the brackets for writing the parameters: For example, we put the cursor in cell F5. First place your cursor in a cell where you want the result to appear. So, we begin in the same way as we write all other formulas in Excel. We know that VLOOKUP is an Excel function. Now let’s see how VLOOKUP works and how it can answer the above question. But what if the spreadsheet contains thousands of rows? This function can help you in such situations. Looking at the above Excel sheet, it is easy to find the unit price of any item, so you may wonder why do you need a special function for this? Well, the above given sheet contains a small amount of data. How would you do this? VLOOKUP can easily answer this question. Now let’s assume that you want to know the unit price of the item whose Item ID is IN0007. This sheet contains sample data of an inventory. We will use the following Excel sheet to demonstrate the functioning of VLOOKUP. Once the row is located, the function can retrieve other values in that row. The function will find the row where the specified value is present. Using VLOOKUP, you can tell Microsoft Excel (or other spreadsheet like Google Sheets) that you are looking for a specific value in a given column. This is why the column search function is called VLOOKUP or Vertical Lookup. VLOOKUP is an Excel function that searches for values in a specified column.

We will use the same Excel sheet for the following tutorial.
#How to use vlookup in excel step by step download#
If you want to do all of the following steps on your own, you can download VLOOKUP example Excel sheet. Just follow this tutorial and you will understand VLOOKUP within minutes.
#How to use vlookup in excel step by step how to#
In this article, we will step-by-step tell you how to use VLOOKUP function. VLOOKUP is very useful and very easy to use. More importantly, many people think that VLOOKUP is a difficult function to use. So up next, I'll explain each of the arguments - the values inside the parentheses - along with rules for using VLOOKUP.Most of the Microsoft Excel users have heard of VLOOKUP but many of them do not know what is VLOOKUP. Now look through this range of cells, and in the third column to the right, find the value on the same row.” So what just happened? I told Excel, “Here is a value in the left-hand column of my data. When I press Enter to tell Excel I am done, you can see I get an error message because I haven't entered a value in cell H2.īut, when I enter a part number, I get a price. In other words, it's the third column over from the part numbers, the data I know.Īnother comma, and I enter FALSE, because that gives me an exact match between part number and price.Īnd don't worry, I'll explain how that works later.

This tells VLOOKUP that the values I want to see are in the third column from the left in the range of cells I want to search. So, I'll enter B3, a colon, and E52, then I'll type another comma.Īnd you need to do that because the functions won't work without the colons and commas. The part numbers start in cell B3, and if I scroll down, you can see the status values end at cell E52.

I'll enter H2 as the first argument, because that is where I'll type the part numbers.įollow that with a comma, and then, I'll enter the range of cells that contains the data I want to search. These parentheses will contain a set of arguments, and an argument is just a piece of data that the function needs in order to run. To do that, I'll click the cell where I want to see the Prices, I'll enter an = sign, VLOOKUP, and parentheses. So, as an example, I'll enter part numbers, the thing I know, and find out Prices, the thing I don't know. VLOOKUP works a lot like a phone book, where you start with the piece of data you know, like someone's name, in order to find out what you don't know, like their phone number. When you need to find information in a large spreadsheet, or you are always looking for the same kind of information, use the VLOOKUP function.
