VLookup, HLookup functions in Excel

In previous post, we learnt the difference between Find and Search in Excel. In this post, we shall learn about VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP functions in Excel.

VLOOKUP (Vertical lookup) function is used to look for a value in the main table and return corresponding value from the lookup table.

In this example, we want to write the 'Emp Type Name' in C column based on B column value from the Lookup table from E2 to F6.

The formula in C2 is '=VLOOKUP(B2,$E$3:$F$6,2,FALSE)' that executes in following way

1^st parameter - lookup value
2^nd parameter - lookup table range (notice that the range is in absolute reference)
3^rd parameter - column index to use to write the value
4^th parameter - approximate match (TRUE) or exact match (FALSE)

Notice that EmpTypeId = 1 is 'Manager' in the Lookup table so the VLOOKUP function returns 'Manager' in C2 cell.

VLookup function in Excel

When we copy the same formula to other C cells, we get above result.

This is almost same as VLOOKUP except the fact that the Lookup table values are horizontally arranged.

In C11 cell, we have '=HLOOKUP(B11,$F$10:$I$11, 2,FALSE)' formula that does following

1st parameter - lookup value
2nd parameter - lookup table range (notice that the range is in absolute reference)
3rd parameter - row index to use to write the value
4th parameter - approximate match (TRUE) or exact match (FALSE)