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A VLOOKUP refresher

In Data Analysis in Google Sheets you learned how to use VLOOKUP(). They are important, so let's refresh your memory.

VLOOKUP() is like INDEX() in that it lets you look up values within a data block. It has the advantage that rather than you having to look and find the position of the cell to specify manually, you can specify the value you are looking for, and it automatically finds it. VLOOKUP() takes four arguments.

  • First is the value that you are looking for, usually a string.
  • Second is the data range, usually specified using absolute coordinates. The first column must contain the lookup values.
  • Third is the column offset, the same as with INDEX().
  • Fourth is whether or not the data is sorted by the lookup column. Usually you need to specify FALSE here.

This exercise is part of the course

Intermediate Google Sheets

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Exercise instructions

Find the same values from the INDEX() exercise, now using VLOOKUP(). Your data range is from $B$11 to $G$19.

  • In cell I1, get the number of Blues in Sikkim. Call VLOOKUP(), passing "Sikkim", the data range, an offset of 5, and FALSE.
  • In cell I2, get the number of White-Yellows in Mizoram Hills.

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