Vlookup Problem

Question

I am trying to use =vlookup to show phone numbers in an excel spread sheet that has the names in column a and the numbers in column b. It couldn't be more simple.

If I type the name in cell a5, it will show the number in a4.

The argument is, =vlookup(d2,a2:b170,2)

It doesn't get more basic than that but it is not working correctly. I'm using Office 365.

What could possible be wrong?

sergeibaklan · Answer

williep&nbsp;, if in D2 the name which is in A5, the formula shall return you the value from B5, isn't it?

williep · Answer

That's correct. I wrote a4 by mistake. It should be b4 . So when I type in a name from a5 it is returning a number from b4. Something is not working correctly. Also, some cells work ok. but the ones that don't will always return a number from the cell right above the correct cell.
I can't believe that I am the only one who has had this problem.

sergeibaklan · Answer

williep&nbsp;, since you skip last parameter, VLOOKUP uses approximate search by default. And approximate search requires what your first column is to be sorted A to Z. Perhaps that's the reason.

williep · Answer

Your right. I didn't put False at the end because I was hoping that just putting a last name would be enough for it to approximate the corresponding number in the cell in the b column next to it. It works sometimes. If I put false at the end of the argument, I have to write exactly what's in the a column cell but it works every time. It's just not forgiving enough to be user friendly.

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Vlookup Problem

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