If you a lookup novice, this lesson's for you. Were going to start off easy and use an example where we need to lookup the letter grade for student test results. Learn how the Lookup(), VLookup() - "V"ertical Lookup, and HLookup() - "H"orizontal Lookup - formulas work. We'll build off of these fundamentals over the next several lessons.
Text00:40 The Lookup() function is nowhere near as popular as the "VLOOKUP" or even the "HLOOKUP". But, it does serve a valid purpose. To start, this formula is ALWAYS an approximate match, meaning it will search for your value, but it may stop at a row that does not equal the value you are searching for. You may be thinking... well, why would I ever want that to happen? In the video example, I explain this by using a grading scale. I am trying to LOOKUP the letter grade for an 88% and the scale says that 87% - 89% gets a B+. 88% is between the two. Therefore, an approximate match is necessary. Another great example would be for any type of tax table, where there are different income brackets that get charged different tax rates.
04:38 The VLookup() formula is probably one of the most popular functions. We lookup/reference things ALL THE TIME (Mall directories, Cable channel lists, etc). The difficulty comes when you try to write the formula. Let's start at the beginning. All formulas start with "=", then type "vloo.." and you'll notice that Excel is already finding what you want "VLOOKUP." Slow down and READ what Excel says about the formula, then open the parenthesis "VLOOKUP(". Now, READ the arguments that Excel is asking for:
Lookup_Value (What value do you want to lookup?),
Table_Array (What table do you want to pull the value from?) (NOTE: value MUST be in the leftmost column you select in your Table_Array),
Col_Index_Number (What column do you want to have returned when your value is found?),
Range_Lookup (Do you want to lookup an exact match [Type "0" or "FALSE"] or approximate match [Type "1" or "TRUE"]).
Also, remember that "V" stands for Vertical, since Excel will be searching vertically thru a list of values to find your value, as apposed to horizontally - "H"Lookup().
08:20 The HLookup() formula is very similar to the VLookup() formula, if you don't know how to use the VLookup() formula yet, start there first. The only difference is that the HLookup() is looking down a "H"orizontal list to find the lookup value - hence the "H."
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Lookup-Outlines-1.xlsx