{"id":1669,"date":"2015-10-06T18:17:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T16:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myexcelonline.com\/?p=1669"},"modified":"2024-04-18T15:05:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T13:05:44","slug":"vlookup-in-an-excel-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myexcelonline.com\/meo-staging\/blog\/vlookup-in-an-excel-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Vlookup in an Excel Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

What does it do?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Searches for a value in the first column of a table array and returns a value in the same row from another column (to the right) in the table array.<\/p>\n

Formula breakdown:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value<\/span>, table_array<\/span>, col_index_num<\/span>, [range_lookup]<\/span>)<\/p>\n

What it means:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

=VLOOKUP(this value<\/span>, TableName<\/span>, and get me value in this column<\/span>, Exact Match\/FALSE\/0]<\/span>)<\/p>\n

Excel Tables are just amazing and should be used all the time, whether you have 2 rows or 200,000 rows of data!<\/p>\n

You can read the benefits of using an Excel Table here:<\/p>\n

Excel Tables<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

When you use a Vlookup formula to lookup in an Excel<\/a> Table then your formula becomes dynamic due to its structured referencing.<\/p>\n

What that means is that as the Excel Table expands with more data added to it, your Vlookup formula’s 2nd argument (table_array<\/em>) does not need to be updated as it refers to the Excel Table as a whole<\/strong> by referring to its name eg Table1\u00a0 <\/em>or Table2\u00a0 <\/em>or Table3<\/em>\u00a0 etc<\/p>\n

In the example below our Excel Table name is Table2<\/em> and as we add more rows of data to it, the Vlookup formula does not need to be adjusted.\u00a0 How bloody cool is that?