finding data in col E that corresponds to data in col A

[Guest]

ive tried using vlookup and lookup to no avail. i cant figure out how to do
it. can anyone suggest the correct function? for the purposes of assisting
me, assume

* my data is 326 rows long and 6 columns wide
* im trying to enter my vlookup formula in B334, and using A334 as the place
where I am entering test data from column A. my vlookup formula looks like
this

=VLOOKUP(A334,A1:F326,3)

* unfortunately, it's not returning the value that appears in the 3rd column
of the 26th row. thoughts?

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Try this:

=VLOOKUP(A334,A1:F326,3,FALSE)

Thanks,

 

[Ragdyer]

Not knowing if any/all of your data is numeric or text, add the 4th
parameter to the function in order to force it to return an exact match:

=VLOOKUP(A334,A1:F326,3,0)

If this formula returns an #N/A error, you then know that the contents of
A334 has *no* exact duplicate in A1 to A326.

If there is an exact visual match, check for leading or trailing spaces in
either A334 or the data in Column A.

If you are *not* looking for exact matches, then make sure that the data in
Column A is sorted ascending, and you can leave out that 4th parameter (
0 ).

 

[David McRitchie]

Hi Bob,
If you are using the fill-handle to fill the formula down you would
want to make the table always refer to the same table cells by making
the references absolute ($ signs)
=VLOOKUP(A334,$A$1:$F$326,3 False)

The fourth operand can be True or False.
False which is not the default will handle a table not in order
and it requires an Exact match, and you are probably looking for
an exact match.

You might want to put your table into another worksheet
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/vlookup.htm