Why Vlookup when there is Index?

Vlookup:
 

The syntax for Vlookup is:
VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,range_lookup)

Index:

The Syntax for Index is:

INDEX( array, row_number, [column_number] )

Match:

The Syntax for Match is:

MATCH( value, array, [match_type] )

Problem:

For Example:

Using Vlookup In the above table we can find EmployeeName ; Dept with the help of EmployeeNumber and Dept with the help of EmployeeName, however, we are not able to find EmployeeNumber with EmployeeName and Dept because the Vlookup will work only from the right to its value and not to the left.

To fix this issue we use Index ; match

Solution:

Use Index first and insert Match function into it.

=Index(Data Range, #,Column number)

“#” indicates the row number to which it is referring to. So use Match function instead of “#”

=Index($A$2$:$A$4,Match(A6,$B$2:$B$6,False),1)

The number which is in the last in the index can help you with EmployeeNumber for 1, EmployeeName for 2 and Dept for 3.

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The Syntax for Match is:

MATCH( value, array, [match_type] )

Happy Excelling
Team Excelgoodies

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