If a new column is inserted into the table, it could stop your VLOOKUP from working. The image below shows such a scenario. The quantity was in column 3, but after a new column was inserted it became column 4.
You may be thinking “How to fix VLOOKUP not working in Excel?”
The limitation of the VLOOKUP function is that it can’t look at its left. This will appear at the left-most column of a table and return information from the right. The solution to fix the VLOOKUP not working issue is not to use VLOOKUP at all. You can use the combination of INDEX and MATCH Excel function as an alternative for VLOOKUP.
One of the next things we wanted the answer to was how do I fix the N/a error in Excel VLOOKUP?
The #N/A error results because the lookup value “Kale” appears in the second column (Produce) of the table_array argument A2:, and c10. In this case, Excel is looking for it in column A, not column B. Solution: You can try to fix this by adjusting your VLOOKUP to reference the correct column. If that’s not possible, then try moving your columns.
In case of Approximate Match type In case of approximate match type (TRUE), your VLOOKUP function generates # NA error if your lookup value is smaller than the smallest value available in the first column of table_array. Generally, if you enter wrong data type in the formula in Excel, then formula generates #Value error .
Why does my VLOOKUP formula return a #value error?
If anything in the path format is missing, VLOOKUP formula returns a #VALUE error, unless the lookup workbook is currently open. Lookup value characters length. VLOOKUP supports a maximum of 255 characters length of a lookup value argument. If lookup value character length exceeds this limit in VLOOKUP, then formula returns a #VALUE error.
While I was writing we ran into the query “Why VLOOKUP function returns “value” error in Python?”.
But in the case of VLOOKUP function, there are following three reasons that should look into. Index_number less than 1. If you enter index_number argument less than 1 in VLOOKUP function, then it returns a #VALUE error. So you must check index_number argument if VLOOKUP argument returns this error.
Excel why match index is better than vlookup?
The difference in performances between VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH will be negligible if your table_array is small. But if your worksheets contain a lot of rows and formulas, INDEX MATCH will work much faster than VLOOKUP because Excel will have to process only the lookup and return columns rather than the entire table array.
When we were reading we ran into the inquiry “What is the difference between VLOOKUP and match in Excel?”.
VLOOKUP uses 0 or FALSE as the last argument to perform an Exact match. MATCH uses 0 as the last argument to perform an Exact match. Examples of both of these are shown in the screenshot below: The formula in Cell K5 is:.
One Match value can be used in many Index functions to pull several fields from a row in a table. Using Index in an array formula can return multiple adjacent fields from a row in a table. For these reasons, and a few others, I see no reason to use Vlookup instead of the simpler and as-fast or faster Index-Match.
What is the advantage of index match in Excel?
With INDEX MATCH, Excel only has to consider the lookup column and the return column. With fewer absolute cells to consider, Excel can process this formula much faster. Again, please keep in mind that this benefit is probably no longer noticeable given the improvements made in Excel’s processing power.
What are the limitations of the VLOOKUP function?
A limitation of the VLOOKUP function is that it cannot look to its left. It will look down the leftmost column of a table and return information from the right. The solution to this involves not using VLOOKUP at all. Using a combination of the INDEX and MATCH functions of Excel is a common alternative to VLOOKUP.
You may be thinking “Is there a better alternative to VLOOKUP?”
The superior alternative to VLOOKUP is INDEX MATCH. While VLOOKUP works fine in most cases, it tends to reveal flaws when you start using it in large and complex sheets. The INDEX MATCH formula is actually two different functions; INDEX and MATCH.