Look up values in a range

Let's say you want to look up an employee's phone extension by using their badge number, or the correct rate of a commission for a sales amount. You look up data to quickly and efficiently find specific data in a list and to automatically verify that you are using correct data. After you look up the data, you can perform calculations or display results with the values returned. There are several ways to look up values in a list of data and to display the results.

What do you want to do?

Use the VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP functions

Use the INDEX, MATCH, and OFFSET functions

Look up values vertically in a list by using an exact match

To do this task, use the VLOOKUP function.

Example

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A B C D Badge Number Last Name First Name Extension ID-34567 Davolio Nancy 5467 ID-16782 Fuller Andrew 3457 ID-4537 Leverling Janet 3355 ID-1873 Peacock Margaret 5176 ID-3456 Buchanan Steven 3453 ID-5678 Suyama Michael 428 Formula Description (Result) =VLOOKUP("ID-4537", A1:D7, 4, FALSE) Lookup the badge number, ID-4537, in the first column and return the matching value in the same row of the fourth column (3355)

Function details

VLOOKUP

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Look up values vertically in a list by using an approximate match

To do this task, use the VLOOKUP function.

Important This method only works if the values in the first column have been sorted in ascending order.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

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In this example, you know the frequency and want to look up the associated color.

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A B Frequency Color 4.14 red 4.19 orange 5.17 yellow 5.77 green 6.39 blue Formula Description (Result) =VLOOKUP(5.93, A1:B6, 2, TRUE) Looks up 5.93 in column A, finds the next largest value that is less than 5.93, which is 5.77, and then returns the value from column B that's in the same row as 5.77 (green)

Function details

VLOOKUP

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Look up values horizontally in a list by using an exact match

To do this task, use the HLOOKUP function.

Example

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A B C Status Axles Bolts In stock 4 9 On order 5 10 Back order 6 11 Formula Description (Result) =HLOOKUP("Bolts", A1:C4, 3) Looks up Bolts in row 1, and returns the value from row 3 that's in the same column (10)

Function details

HLOOKUP

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Look up values horizontally in a list by using an approximate match

To do this task, use the HLOOKUP function.

Important This method only works if the values in the first row have been sorted in ascending order.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

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A B C D 10000 50000 100000 Sales Volume .05 .20 .30 Rate Formula Description (Result) =HLOOKUP(78658,A1:D4,2, TRUE) Looks up $78,658 in Row 1, finds the next largest value that is less than $78,658, which is $50,000, and then returns the value from row 2 that's in the same column as $50,000 (20%)

 Notes 

• To display the rate and return number as a percentage, select the cell and then click Percent Style on the Formatting toolbar.
• To display the Sales Volume number as dollars, select the cell and then click Dollar Style on the Formatting toolbar.

Function details

HLOOKUP

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Create a lookup formula with the Lookup Wizard

The Lookup Wizard creates the lookup formula based on a worksheet data that has row and column labels. The Lookup Wizard helps you find other values in a row when you know the value in one column, and vice versa. The Lookup Wizard uses INDEX and MATCH in the formulas that it creates.

1. On the Tools menu, click Add-ins, select the Lookup Wizard box, and then click OK.
2. Click a cell in the range.
3. On the Tools menu, click Lookup.
4. Follow the instructions in the wizard.

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Look up values vertically in a list by using an exact match

To do this task, use the INDEX and MATCH functions.

Example

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A B Product Count Bananas 38 Oranges 25 Apples 41 Pears 40 Formula Description (Result) =INDEX(A2:B5,MATCH("Pears",A2:A5,0),2) Looks up Pears in column A and returns the value for Pears in column B (40).

The formula uses the following arguments.

A2:B5: The entire range in which you are looking up values.

MATCH("Pears",A2:A5,0): The MATCH function determines the row number.

"Pears": The value to find in the lookup column.

A2:A5: The column for the MATCH function to search.

2: The column from which to return the value. The leftmost column is 1.

Function details

INDEX

MATCH

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Look up values vertically in a list of unknown size by using an exact

m

atch

To do this task, use the OFFSET and MATCH functions.

Use this approach when your data is in an external data range that you refresh each day. You know the price is in column B, but you don't know how many rows of data the server will return, and the first column isn't sorted alphabetically.

Example

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A B Product Count Bananas 38 Oranges 25 Apples 41 Pears 40 Formula Description (Result) =OFFSET(A1,MATCH("Pears",A2:A5, 0),1) Looks up Pears in column A and returns the value for Pears in column B ( 40).

The formula uses the following arguments.

A1: The upper left cell of the range, also called the starting cell.

MATCH("Pears",A2:A5, 0): The MATCH function determines the row number below the starting cell to find the look up value.

"Pears": The value to find in the lookup column.

A2:A5: The column for the MATCH function to search. Don't include the starting cell in this range.

1: The number of columns to the right of the starting cell to find the lookup value.

Function details

MATCH

OFFSET

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