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Vlookup is skipping over some columns but not others

  1. #1
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    Vlookup is skipping over some columns but not others

    Hello -

    Help, please. Vlookup is skipping over some columns as though they don't exist. For instance, if I type in the following formula, =VLOOKUP(J2,$C$2:$G$6,3,FALSE), rather than getting what's in the third column, Vlookup returns what's in Column 10 or Column 5. I have never experienced this before, and I've already googled it.

    Has anyone encountered this before?

    I checked the following:
    - The cells between Columns 3 and 10 are not blank.
    - The cells are all formatted the same way.

    Please can anyone help me? An example of a table is pasted below. The first cell is Cell C2. I expected to get "Jill" as a return from the formula above (where J2 = Project 1). Instead, I got '3'.

    Why did it skip over the columns that contain "Team A" or "3".

    Any help will be appreciated!

    Project List Leaders Team Members Groups affected (Only dropdown options can be selected) Number of people
    Project 1 Doris Jill Team A 3
    Project 2 James Samantha Team B 2
    Project 3 Martha Joe Team C 6
    Project 4 Avinash Mark Team D 10

  2. #2
    Forum Guru samba_ravi's Avatar
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    Re: Vlookup is skipping over some columns but not others

    Welcome to the forum missnike

    Attach a sample workbook (not a picture or pasted copy). Make sure there is just enough data to demonstrate your need. Include a BEFORE sheet and an AFTER sheet in the workbook if needed to show the process you're trying to complete or automate. Make sure your desired results are shown, mock them up manually if necessary.

    Remember to desensitize the data.

    Click on GO ADVANCED and then scroll down to Manage Attachments to open the upload window.
    Samba

    Say thanks to those who have helped you by clicking Add Reputation star.

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    Forum Expert Sam Capricci's Avatar
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    Re: Vlookup is skipping over some columns but not others

    missnike, what you are saying makes no sense about the vlookup.
    this vlookup =VLOOKUP(J2,$C$2:$G$6,3,FALSE)
    1) will look for the value in J2 in cells C2 through C6 only
    2) if found it will return the value in E2 through E6 only (that is what the 3 is telling it to do, go over three columns and bring back the result)
    3) the G6 is irrelevant to the formula as it will not return anything beyond column E because of the "3".
    4) column E is the 5th column in a workbook.
    5) if it does not find the value it will return a #N/A

    So as Samba noted in post #2 a sample sheet would help.
    Make contributors happy, click on the "* Add Reputation" as a way to say thank you.
    Sam Capricci

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    Re: Vlookup is skipping over some columns but not others

    hello all. Thanks for your help. I now know why I thought it was returning the wrong number. The vlookup was reading a table that had both numbers and dates. It returned a number but the format of the displaying cell was accidentally set to "dates" so I thought it was returning the dates column instead! Thanks a lot for all your help! I'm OK now!!

    Cheers!

  5. #5
    Forum Expert Sam Capricci's Avatar
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    Re: Vlookup is skipping over some columns but not others

    glad you figured it out. Don't forget to mark the post as solved using the thread tools dropdown at the top of the post.

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