{"id":1765,"date":"2016-06-07T20:48:54","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T18:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myexcelonline.com\/?p=1765"},"modified":"2024-02-06T15:58:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T14:58:30","slug":"vlookup-approximate-match-in-excel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myexcelonline.com\/meo-staging\/blog\/vlookup-approximate-match-in-excel\/","title":{"rendered":"Vlookup Approximate Match in Excel"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

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

Searches for an approximate 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><\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

=VLOOKUP(this value<\/span>, in this list<\/span>, and get me value in this column<\/span>, Approximate Match\/TRUE\/1]<\/span>)<\/p>\n

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The Vlookup function<\/a> in Excel is great when you want to find an exact match in your data table but what happens if you want to find an approximate match?<\/p>\n

Approximate matches are used when you have an ascending table like Commission Bonus Rates<\/em> or Income Tax Rates<\/em>.<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT:<\/strong><\/span> For the Vlookup Approximate Match to work in Excel, the table_array<\/strong> has to be sorted in ascending order<\/strong>!<\/em><\/p>\n

So the way that this formula<\/a> works is that it looks at the first value in the Table_Array<\/em> that is greater than the Lookup_Value<\/em> and then goes back one value.<\/p>\n

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Table of Contents<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n