Microsoft KB Archive/118306

= VLOOKUP Function Cannot Return Values to Left of Data =

Article ID: 118306

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 95a
 * Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 4.0a
 * Microsoft Excel 4.0 for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q118306



SYMPTOMS
Microsoft Excel versions 5.0 and 7.0 Help and page 450 of the "Function Reference," version 4.0, specify that you should "use VLOOKUP instead of HLOOKUP when your comparison values are located in a column to the left or right of the data you want to find."



MORE INFORMATION
This information is not entirely correct: VLOOKUP searches the leftmost column of the array and cannot return a value to the left of the found data (returning the value to the left would require that the column index argument be negative, and the column index argument must be a positive number). VLOOKUP can return a value only from a column to the right of the leftmost column.

NOTE: The Help files included with Microsoft Excel 97 and Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition contain the correct information.

Additional query words: 4.00a 5.00a 5.00c 7.00a XL7 XL5 XL4 LOOKUP XL

Keywords: KB118306

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