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YPC's avatar
YPC
Copper Contributor
Oct 23, 2025

Excel jumps to A1 when selecting a range on another sheet during VLOOKUP

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing a strange issue in Excel and I’m hoping someone can help.

Steps to reproduce the problem:

  1. Open a workbook with at least two sheets (Sheet1 and Sheet2).
  2. On Sheet1, start typing a VLOOKUP formula
  3. When selecting the table array range, switch to Sheet2 to select the range.
  4. Excel unexpectedly jumps the selection or view to cell A1 on Sheet2, losing the intended range selection.

 

 

community
excel
office 365

1 Reply

  • Kidd_Ip's avatar
    Kidd_Ip
    MVP
    Oct 24, 2025

    Try below as workarounds:

     

    1. Pre-select the range before typing the formula

    • Go to Sheet2, select the desired range (e.g., $C$3:$E$100), then return to Sheet1 and type the formula manually using that reference.

    2. Use the Name Manager

    • Define a named range for the lookup table on Sheet2.
    • Then use that name in your formula:
    =VLOOKUP(A2, LookupTable, 2, FALSE)

    3. Type the full reference manually

    • Instead of switching sheets mid-formula, type:
    =VLOOKUP(A2, Sheet2!$C$3:$E$100, 2, FALSE)

    4. Update Excel

    • Ensure you're running the latest version of Excel. 

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