VLOOKUP is the formula that stops you matching two lists by hand, and you can
learn the whole of it in six minutes. No filler and nothing skipped: what it
actually does, all four arguments, one formula typed out live, the column
counting rule that catches almost everybody, why you always end with FALSE, how
to lock the range so it survives being dragged down, and how to fix #N/A.

Six minutes is enough because we cut the things a beginner does not need on day
one and spent the time instead on the mistake that actually breaks real
spreadsheets: dragging a formula whose range was never locked. It gets two and a
half minutes of this video, because it is the reason most people decide VLOOKUP
is unreliable and give up on it.

Everything on screen is Microsoft Excel. VLOOKUP works exactly the same way in
Google Sheets, where the four arguments are named search_key, range, index and
is_sorted instead.

FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER
1. Go down the first column to find it, then across that row to fetch it.
2. What you search for must sit in the first column of your range.
3. Count the index from the left edge of your range, never from the column
  letters on screen.
4. Always end with FALSE.
5. Lock the range with dollar signs BEFORE you copy the formula anywhere. Type
  the range, press F4, carry on. Command T on a Mac. This is the one everybody
  gets wrong.

FREE PRACTICE FILE
The exact data used in the video. Three sheets: Practice with the formula cells
left empty, Answers with every formula completed, and a discount band example.
Works in Excel, and imports straight into Google Sheets with File then Import.
https://reconscribe.com/wp-content/up...

CHAPTERS
0:00 What VLOOKUP does
1:00 Writing it, step by step
1:43 Counting the index correctly
3:05 The #1 mistake: not locking the range
5:29 Fixing #N/A
5:55 Recap: five things
6:22 Practice file in the description

THE FORMULA
=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])
=VLOOKUP(H2, $A$2:$E$11, 2, FALSE)

Wrapped so a missing code reads cleanly instead of showing an error:
=IFNA(VLOOKUP(H2, $A$2:$E$11, 2, FALSE), "Not found")

READ MORE
VLOOKUP is one of fifteen formulas in our written guide to the Excel formulas
that actually matter in finance work, which also covers XLOOKUP, INDEX MATCH
and SUMIFS:
https://reconscribe.com/excel-formula...

Free calculators, templates and practical accounting guides:
https://reconscribe.com

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If a particular part tripped you up, tell us the timestamp in the comments and
we will cover it properly in a follow up.

THE SHORT VERSION
The same formula, all four arguments, in 80 seconds:
VLOOKUP done properly: all four arguments

WATCH NEXT
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Pivot Tables in Excel: Full Beginner Tutor...