Help w Drop Down Formula

[MikeInThe901]

Trying to set up a drop down menu in A2 that populates B2 with a value.

When the user chooses one of the drop-down options in cell A2, I want the value in the cell adjacent to their choice (either 6B, 7B, or 8B) to appear in cell B2. Can't I do that with a nested If statement?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

There are innumerable options, here are three using your data:

=LOOKUP(A2,A6:B8)

=VLOOKUP(A2,A6:B8,2)

=XLOOKUP(A2,A6:A8,B6:B8)

You might also work with INDEX/MATCH or INDEX/XMATCH

Shane Devenshire

[#3]

@Shane Devenshire 

Except LOOKUP() won't work, at least correctly, on unsorted names.

[#4]

Actually, the first and third formulas require the data be sorted.  If not the first formula needs to be =VLOOKUP(A2,A6:B8,2,0) or =VLOOKUP(A2,A6:B8,2,FALSE) .

[#5]

@Shane Devenshire 

No, sorting is not required for third formula, only first two.

By the way, three main reasons never use VLOOKUP() that's fixed column number, left to right and approximate search by default.

[#6]

Sorry I entered the formulas in a different order in my sheet.  XLOOKUP is really the best choice in my opinion, but not everybody has access to it.  Nevertheless adding FALSE or 0 or add the comma with a blank after it to VLOOKUP in the 4th argument allows the data to be unsorted using exact match:

=VLOOKUP(A4,A2:B5,2,FALSE)

=VLOOKUP(A4,A2:B5,2,0)

=VLOOKUP(A4,A2:B5,2,)

[#7]

Regarding "fixed column number, left to right and approximate search by default."

1. Column numbers don't need to be fixed. 

2. You can do right to left lookups, even with VLOOKUP

3.  Default approximate just means changing the 4th argument.

XLOOKUP solves these issues, but again not everyone is using a version that has this function.