Using lookup function with text and not numbers.

[cobenson]

Hello All,

I am not sure if this is possible, but what I want to do is take a text value, and lookup the text in the column next to it. Let me try and explain.

I travel for a living, and on one tab, I have a city name, and state. On another tab, I want to be able to enter the city name, and have the state name automatically populate in the row next to it. So on tab 1 in A5, I have Chicago. In B5, I have Illinois. Now on tab 2 in A20, I have Chicago. I want to populate the word Illinois in B20 on tab 2 of the Excel spreadsheet. Is this possible? I used to think I was half way smart when it came to formulas, but this one has me stumped.

If it is possible, does the text in A5:Axxx need to be in alphabetical order? I currently have 35 cities on tab 1.

Currently I do it with a bunch of "If" statements. But it is a hassle.

Thank You and hopefully I explained it good enough for someone to understand.

[Jonmo1]

Try VLOOKUP

=VLOOKUP('Tab 2'!A20,'Tab 1'!A$1:B$100,2,0)

[cobenson]

That worked perfectly! Thank you very much for the fast replay and accurate answer.

[Jonmo1]

You're welcome.