Vlookup name in column 1 and text string in column 2 and bring that cell in column 2

Are they always in the same order?

Will you please attach a SMALL sample Excel workbook (10-20 rows of data is usually enough)? However, please give us an indication of the approximate number of rows of data you want the solution to work with (100, 1000, 100,000 or whatever). Please don't attach a picture of an Excel sheet (no-one will want to re-type all your stuff before starting).

1. It does NOT have to be your real sheet - mock up a SAMPLE if you need to. But not 1000's of rows!!! It makes manual checking so tedious. Whatever you do... make sure that all confidential information is removed first!!

2. Make sure that your sample data are truly REPRESENTATIVE of your real data. The use of unrepresentative data is very frustrating and can lead to long delays in reaching a solution.

3. Make sure that your desired solution is also shown (mock up the results manually).

4. Try to avoid using merged cells. They cause lots of problems!

Unfortunately the attachment icon doesn't work at the moment. So, to attach an Excel file you have to do the following: Just before posting, scroll down to Go Advanced and then scroll down to Manage Attachments. Now follow the instructions at the top of that screen.

In E2, copied down:
=IFERROR(INDEX($A$2:$A$17,MATCH(0,INDEX(COUNTIF($E$1:$E1,$A$2:$A$17),0),0)),"")

In F2, copied acorss and down:
=INDEX($B$2:$B$17,MATCH(1,INDEX(($A$2:$A$17=$E2)*(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(F$1,$B$2:$B$17))),0),0))

It's not a hugely good idea to use whole column references... unless you have 1,000,000 + rows.

However, with a little tweak, the formula can be made future-proof.

The revised formula in E2 is an array formula:
=IFERROR(INDEX(A$2:A$1000,MATCH(0,IF(A$2:A$1000<>"",COUNTIF(E$1:E1,A$2:A$1000)),0)),"")

Array Formulae are a little different from ordinary formulae in that they MUST be confirmed in the FIRST CELL ONLY by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER to activate the array, not just ENTER. After that, the array can be dragged down as normal, to cover the desired range.

You will know the array is active when you see curly brackets { } - or "curly braces" for those of you in the USA, or "flower brackets" for those of you in India - appear around the outside of your formula. If you do not use CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER you will (almost always) get an error message or an incorrect answer. Press F2 on that cell and try again.

Don't type the curly brackets yourself - it won't work...

You're welcome.

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If that takes care of your original question, please select "Thread Tools" from the menu link above and mark this thread as SOLVED.

It'd also be appreciated if you were to click the Add Reputation button at the foot of any of the posts of all members who helped you reach a solution.

Most things are possible:


=IFERROR(INDEX($B:$B,AGGREGATE(15,6,ROW($B$2:$B$100)/(($A$2:$A$1000=$E2)*(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(F$1,$B$2:$B$100)))),COUNTIF($F$1:F$1,F$1))),"")

see sheet.