Surgent's Excel Lookups: Moving Beyond VLOOKUP Limitations

Overview

How do you pull a value from a cell into another cell? Do you use a direct cell reference, like =G10? If so, you are probably missing out on some efficiency gains that could be achieved by using a variety of Excel's lookup functions. Veteran Excel users, who are aware of the VLOOKUP function, are also painfully aware of its limitations--especially that it cannot go left. We will explore how to bypass VLOOKUP's limitations by nesting functions and by moving beyond VLOOKUP altogether.

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of Excel for Windows

Objectives

• Recognize when and why a lookup function is better than a direct cell reference
• Use three of Excel's many lookup functions
• Gain comfort with the arguments of the functions presented

Highlights

• Using lookup functions as an alternative to direct cell references
• Understand the limitations of the VLOOKUP function
• Discover ways to move beyond these limitations