Vlookup

[brennanv]

I am having a lot of trouble getting the vlookup formula to work for me. i've trimmed the date, made sure all the data was identical and still cannot get it to work. I have no idea what else to do. I've literally spent over an hour trying to get this simple formula to work and cannot figure it out to save my life.

The formula i am currently using is =VLOOKUP(B4,Sheet3!$A$4:$L$34,1,false)

 

[brennanv]

Are you trying to return column 1 in the above vlookup? Doesn't make sense that you would try and return column 1 of the lookup table.

Why wouldn't that make sense?

 

[Access Beginner]

Why wouldn't that make sense?

Because you would be returning your lookup value. In your example, the lookup value is B4, so lets say B4 is a Name, "Joe Blow". In your lookup table on sheet 3 in Column A it should have a list of names. So what your formula is doing is returning the name.

 

[Momentman]

Well, if you are doing a vlookup, then the value being looked up must be in the first column of the lookup array

For example, if your lookup/table array is A4:L34 and you are looking up B4 from another sheet, then B4 must be sought for in column A
if your lookup array is C4:K34, then B4 must be sought for in Column C and a match can be returned from other columns

But the event that the column being looked for is not in the first column of the table-array, then you should be thinking of using INDEX/MATCH except you have to rearrange your data. You can check EXCEL HELP for more on VLLOOKUP

In any case, do the results in my table match your requirements?

 

[brennanv]

yes, it did.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[brennanv]

okay, so it was a formatting issue. i got it to work now. Thank you. I was unaware that your lookup value need to be in the first column of the lookup table. thank you for the help

 

[Momentman]

okay, so it was a formatting issue. i got it to work now. Thank you. I was unaware that your lookup value need to be in the first column of the lookup table. thank you for the help

You are welcome, Glad its now working.