how to do vlookup in excel

To do a VLOOKUP in Excel, follow these steps:

1. Prepare your data : Make sure your data is in a table format where the value you want to look up is in the first (leftmost) column of the range.

2. Select the cell for the result : Click on the cell where you want the VLOOKUP result to appear.

3. Enter the VLOOKUP formula : Type =VLOOKUP( to start the function.

4. Provide the arguments for VLOOKUP :

   • lookup_value : The value you want to search for (e.g., a cell reference like A2).
   • table_array : The range of cells that contains the data, with the lookup column as the first column (e.g., A2:D10).
   • col_index_num : The column number in the range from which to return the value (counting from the left of the range, starting at 1).
   • range_lookup : Use FALSE for an exact match or TRUE for an approximate match (usually FALSE is preferred).

5. Close the parentheses and press Enter : Complete the formula like this:
   =VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, FALSE)

6. Example : If you want to find the price of an item with ID in cell A2 from a table in range B2:D10, where the ID is in the first column of the table and price is in the third column, the formula would be:
   =VLOOKUP(A2, B2:D10, 3, FALSE)

7. Copy or drag the formula to apply it to other cells if needed.

Key points to remember:

• The lookup value must be in the first column of the table array.
• Column index numbering starts at 1 for the leftmost column of the table array.
• Use FALSE for exact matches to avoid errors

This method allows you to quickly find and retrieve data from large tables based on a lookup value.