#How to use vlookup in excel to solve how to#
#How to use vlookup in excel to solve full#

If you are pulling data from another workbook, you have to include the full path to it. Full path to the lookup workbook is not supplied In our case, this formula works perfectly: Solution: Use an INDEX MATCH formula instead. If your lookup values exceed this limit, a #VALUE! error will be displayed: Please be aware that VLOOKUP cannot look up values containing more than 255 characters. In respect to VLOOKUP, there are two common sources of the VALUE! error. In general, Microsoft Excel displays the #VALUE! error if a value used in the formula is of a wrong data type. A quick alternative is running the Trim Spaces tool that will eliminate excess spaces both in the lookup and main tables in seconds, making your VLOOKUP formulas error-free. Since this is an array formula, don't forget to press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to properly complete it (in Excel 365 and Excel 2021, due to support for dynamic arrays, this also works as a regular formula). Instead, you can use a combination of INDEX, MATCH and TRIM functions as an array formula: If extra spaces occur in the lookup column, there is no easy way to avoid #N/A errors in VLOOKUP. Solution 2: Extra spaces in the lookup column To ensure the correct work of your VLOOKUP formula, wrap the lookup value in the TRIM function: Solution 1: Extra spaces in the lookup value This is the least obvious cause of the VLOOKUP #N/A error because a human eye can hardly spot those extra spaces, especially when working with big datasets where most of the entries are below the scroll.

#How to use vlookup in excel to solve how to#

For more information, please see How to convert text to number in Excel. Solution: Select all the problematic numbers, click on the error icon and choose Convert to Number from the context menu. Here are the most obvious indicators of numbers formatted as text: This usually occurs when you import data from some external database or if you've typed an apostrophe before a number to show leading zeros. Numbers are formatted as textĪnother common source #N/A errors in VLOOKUP formulas is numbers formatted as text, either in the main or lookup table. Here's a formula example: INDEX MATCH formula to look up values to left. Solution: If it is not possible to restructure your data so that the lookup column is the left-most column, you can use the INDEX and MATCH functions together as an alternative to VLOOKUP. In practice, we often forget about this and end up with #N/A errors.

Consequently, a lookup column should always be the leftmost column in the table array. One of the most significant limitations of Excel VLOOKUP is that it cannot look to its left. The lookup column is not the leftmost column of the table array For more information, see VLOOKUP exact match vs. If you are searching for exact match ( range_lookup argument set to FALSE), the #N/A error occurs when a value exactly equal to the lookup value is not found. The lookup column is not sorted in ascending order.The lookup value is smaller than the smallest value in the lookup array.If your formula looks up the closest match, ( range_lookup argument set to TRUE or omitted), the #N/A error can appear in two cases:

It's always a good idea to check the most obvious thing first : ) Misprints frequently occur when you are working with really large data sets consisting of thousands of rows, or when a lookup value is typed directly in the formula. There can be several reasons why that may happen. In VLOOKUP formulas, the #N/A error message (meaning 'not available') is displayed when Excel cannot find a lookup value. How to VLOOKUP in Excel - video tutorial for beginners.Why does my VLOOKUP work for some cells but not others?.We will start with the most obvious reasons why VLOOKUP is not working, so it might be a good idea to check out the below troubleshooting steps in order. In this article, you will find simple explanations of the main causes of VLOOKUP errors such as #N/A, #NAME and #VALUE, as well as their solutions and fixes. It has a ton of limitations, which are the source of various problems and errors. However, it's not without reason that many Excel specialists consider VLOOKUP to be one of the most intricate Excel functions. If you have been following us closely, by now you should be an expert in this area :) In a few earlier articles, we explored different aspects of the Excel VLOOKUP function. Is your VLOOKUP pulling wrong data or you cannot get it to work at all? This tutorial shows how you can quickly fix common VLOOKUP errors and overcome its main limitations.