Practicing the most important Excel function: VLOOKUP!

“Hold your horses Shir! I don’t know how to do a VLOOKUP!”
No problem, check out this post: The Most Important Excel Function You Will Ever Learn

Alright sparky here’s the deal…

You’ve got month numbers and you want to show them as month names.

Simple enough right?

Sure you could do that by hand. Then again, you could also eat a bowl of rice one grain at a time.

OR

You could use a VLOOKUP! Or a fork. I think you’ll figure out which one goes where ;).

The secret is all in the setup.

Watch this video where I take you through the creation of the lookup table, and then the writing of the VLOOKUP function.

That way, every time there was a month number, excel will now spit out a month name right next to it.

[]

Key Takeaways:

• When using VLOOKUP make sure to set the stage first. I recommend creating your Lookup Table of reference values in a separate worksheet called “Lookup Values.” Also, set it up so the Lookup Value (input value) is immediately to the left of your VLOOKUP function.
• Don’t forget to anchor your reference to the Table_Array (Lookup Table) by pressing F4.
• Don’t forget to type a “,” (comma) after each argument, especially before moving on to the col_index_num argument.
• Use FALSE for the last argument of [range_lookup] to get an Exact Match. This ensures that if there is no exact matching value, we will know about it immediately by seeing a “N/A” error, which means “Not Available.”

---

Here’s an example spreadsheet so you can try it out for yourself:

• VLOOKUP Practice – Blank
• VLOOKUP Practice – Answer Key

Was this helpful? If so, don’t keep it to yourself! Spread the Excel love by sharing this with a friend.

Think you’ve got a cool use for VLOOKUP? Leave a comment and tell me all about it! It’s okay, I’m a hardcore nerd…I’ll appreciate it :).

Happy VLOOKUP practicing!

P.S. Got a quick Excel question? Click here for on call Excel help
P.P.S. Seriously, stop wasting hours on Google! Hop on a call with me and move on with your day!

FACT: Out of 400+ functions in Excel, VLOOKUP has been selected as THE indicator of Excel skills.

Don’t look at me, it wasn’t my decision.

So let me ask you this… Can you do a VLOOKUP?

If your answer is “no,” or a lukewarm “kinda sorta,” this video is perfect for you!

In this Excel VLOOKUP video tutorial, I break down all the 4 arguments of the function, and translate them into plain English (what a concept!)

Use the VLOOKUP function to look up an input value (usually an ID number) on a reference table and spit out another value that’s associated with it.

A common example is to look up a Product ID Number, and use it to find the price of that product from a price list.

VLOOKUP Arguments Explained:

• lookup_value = What value do you want to use to find other values?
• table_array = Where is the lookup table of other values?
• col_index_num = Which column number (relative to the lookup table) is the data you want to find located in?
• range_lookup = Do you want an Exact Match (FALSE) or Approximate Match (TRUE)?

Note: I highly recommend practicing this function over and over again until you get the hang of it. It’s quite challenging, but also extremely powerful.

---

As a bonus, I’m also attaching a downloadable excel spreadsheet from the video so you can try it out for yourself:

• VLOOKUP Function – Blank
• VLOOKUP Function – Answer Key

If this was helpful, do me a favor and send this to someone who’s about to go on a job interview, or spends a good amount of time in Excel. You’ll be making their day, and mine!

Also, leave a comment if any part of the VLOOKUP function still mystifies you, or simply share a time when you used VLOOKUP and it made your life 257% easier. Either way I’d love to hear from you!

Happy VLOOKUP’ing!

P.S. Got a quick Excel question? Click here for on call Excel help
P.P.S. Seriously, stop wasting hours on Google! Hop on a call with me and move on with your day!