Search a block of data using VLOOKUP
Use VLOOKUP to search the first column (columns are vertical) of a block of data and return the value from another column in the same row. For example, search the first column for the name “Fred” and then return the value in the cell two columns to the right. VLOOKUP supports two forms:
VLOOKUP(search_value; search_range; return_column_index)
VLOOKUP(search_value; search_range; return_column_index; sort_order)
The first argument, search_value, identifies the value to find. The search value can be text, a number, or a regular expression. For example, Fred searches for the text Fred, 4 searches for the number 4, and F.* is the regular expression for finding something that starts with the letter F.
The second argument, search_range, identifies the cells to search; only the first column is searched. For example, B3:G10 searches the same sheet containing the VLOOKUP formula and Sheet2.B3:G10 searches the range B3:G10 on the sheet named Sheet2.
The return_column_index identifies the column to return; a value of 1 returns the first column in the range. The statement =VLOOKUP("Bob"; A1:G9; 1) finds the first row in A1:G9 containing the text Bob, and returns the value in the first column. The first column is the searched column, so the text Bob is returned. If the column index is 2, then the value in the cell to the right of Bob is returned; column B.
The final column, sort_order, is optional. The default value for sort_order is 1, which specifies that the first column is sorted in ascending order; a value of 0 specifies that the data is not sorted. A non-sorted list is searched by sequentially checking every cell in the first column for an exact match. If an exact match is not found, the text #N/A is returned.
A more efficient search routine is used if the data is sorted in ascending order. If one exact match exists, the returned value is the same as for a non-sorted list; but it is faster. If a match does not exist, the largest value in the column that is less than or equal to the search value is returned. For example, searching for 7 in (3, 5, 10) returns 5 because 7 is between 5 and 10. Searching for 27 returns 10, and searching for 2 returns #N/A because there is no match and no value less than 2.
Use VLOOKUP when:
- The data is arranged in rows and you want to return data from the same row. For example, student names with test and quiz scores to the right of the student’s name.
- Searching the first column of a range of data.
