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sanneb1985's avatar
sanneb1985
Copper Contributor
Jul 27, 2022

vlookup column index number

when I use vlookup , and I want to fill in the column index, I no longer see numbers in the columns when I select the table array. It is difficult for me to count them, because sometimes it is column 58. Do you know a solution here?

    • sanneb1985's avatar
      sanneb1985
      Copper Contributor
      i'll dive into that and will read the tips, thank you
  • sanneb1985 

    Do you have Microsoft 365 or Office 2021? If so, you can use XLOOKUP instead of VLOOKUP:

     

    =XLOOKUP(lookup_value, column_to_search, column_to_return, if_not_found)

     

    For example

     

    =XLOOKUP(A2, $C$2:$C$100, $BD$2:$BD$100, "")

     

    If you have an older version, you can use INDEX/MATCH:

     

    =IFERROR(INDEX($BD$2:$BD$100, MATCH(A2, $C$2:$C$100, 0)), "")

    • sanneb1985's avatar
      sanneb1985
      Copper Contributor
      We still have office Professional plus 2019 at work. We used to have 2016. Is it possible that Microsoft has made changes in the new version? My collegue still has the 2019 and the column numbers are visible (we use the same files for vlookup)

  • Martin_Weiss's avatar
    Martin_Weiss
    Bronze Contributor

    Hi sanneb1985 

     

    yes, if you use large tables, sometimes the column numbers disappear. As a workaround, you could add a row above your table and use the COLUMN function there. This gives the absolute column number:

     

    Please note, if your table does not start in column A, you need to add the number of additional columns to the formula. For example, if it starts in column D, you need to subtract 3 to get the correct number for your index:

     

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