There is a multitude of really great techniques to find information; the focus for today is Lookup Function; basically, it is the Excel lookup function. How to do vLookup in excel, let’s dig into it.

If you are not entirely sure how to work with these lesser-known formulas, I recommend going to the FORMULA Tab in the Ribbon under Lookup & Reference as highlighted.

The LOOKUP Function should be used when searching a single row or column for one piece of data to retrieve another piece of information within the same position. For example, you know the stock code but want to know the stock price. You’d use LOOKUP to locate the stock code and retrieve the price.

The VLOOKUP or Vertical Lookup

It should be used when you need to find data within the worksheet by row. Similar to LOOKUP, you would use this to search by stock code to find the price by searching across the row. HLOOKUP or Horizontal Lookup is used when you want to search down columns for information.

 It starts by searching the first row for the value and then moves down the column to find the second value. Let’s look at the three lookup functions to see which is the best during certain circumstances.

How to Use vLookup in Excel

When LOOKUP is selected from the ‘Lookup & Reference Button,’ a dialog box will appear asking which argument you will be using Vector or Array.

Vector is recommended when using the LOOKUP Function. If you would like to use Array, you strongly recommend using the VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP functions instead. The Vector form searches a specific vector (either one row or one column range) for a value and then returns a value from that same position in a different vector. 

How to do vLookup in Excel:

 The formula for the function is:

=LOOKUP (lookup_value, lookup_vector, return_vector)

Searching Down Columns

Example 1: Find the Code for “Property”

Lookup Value = Property

Lookup Vector = Column A

Return Vector = Column B= LOOKUP (“Property”, A2:A20, B2:B20)

Example 2: What type of Account is Code 600?

Lookup Value = 600

Lookup Vector = Column B

Return Vector = Column C

= LOOKUP (600, B2:B20, C2:C20)

Example 1: Who didn’t have any sales during Quarter 1?

Lookup Value = 0

Lookup Vector = Row 4

Return Vector = Row 1

= LOOKUP (0, A4:F4, A1:F1)

The Lookup Function in Excel is an excellent function for quickly searching a worksheet to find a specific value.

Searching Across Rows

Example 1: Who didn’t have any sales during Quarter 1?

Lookup Value = 0

Lookup Vector = Row 4

Return Vector = Row 1

=LOOKUP (0, A4:F4, A1:F1)

The Lookup Function in Excel is an excellent function for quickly searching a worksheet to find a specific value.