locking cells in a column to cells in another column

[Postal Bob]

I have a worksheet in which I have a list of zip codes in column A and and
a list of corresponding post office names. How do I ling the 2 together so
when I type in the zip code in column A the correct post office name appears
in column B? Otjher columns have associated data and formulas. --
Thanks
Bob

 

[Warren Easton]

Hi Bob,

You could create a new range in another sheet with Zip Codes and their
corresponding Post Offices then use VLOOKUP to access the information.
--
Regards
Warren
Excel Novice

If this helps please click the Yes button.

 

[ShaneDevenshire]

Hi,

Well we are a little short of info here - where are these zip codes supposed
to get the post office info? Normally we would use a lookup table and the
VLOOKUP function.

The only problem with this idea with regard to zip codes is that one post
office may serve more than one zip code, and VLOOKUP will not necessarily
return the one you want.

The syntax for this function is:

=VLOOKUP(Key,Table,Column,Type)

where Key is the value you are looking up in the first column of the Table.
The Table is the range where your zip codes are in the first column and the
second column contains the post office. Column is the column of the Table
you want the function to return data from, in your case that might be 2, for
the second column. The first column is the zip codes. Type indicates
whether you are doing an exact or approximate lookup. In your case is should
always be Exact which means you enter FALSE as the last argument.