Vlookup table only works in alphabetical order???

I have a lookup table, the lookup item is a text string (county name) and if I sort the table by any column other than county name, the lookup function below will not work:

=VLOOKUP($C$15,$CM$15:$DM$107,6)

The C15 cell is a drop-down list where other users select which county they want data for. CM15:DM107 is my lookup table (hidden) and row 6 is the column of data I need returned.

Has anyone else experienced this problem?

If you don't have the 4th argument of VLOOKUP set to zero or FALSE then you need to have the first column of the lookup range sorted ascending.This also allows an approximate match.

In your case, you want an exact match and an unsorted table so you simply add a zero like this:

=VLOOKUP($C$15,$CM$15:$DM$107,6,0)

Originally Posted by daddylonglegs

If you don't have the 4th argument of VLOOKUP set to zero or FALSE then you need to have the first column of the lookup range sorted ascending.This also allows an approximate match.

In your case, you want an exact match and an unsorted table so you simply add a zero like this:

=VLOOKUP($C$15,$CM$15:$DM$107,6,0)

many thanks. that did it. I usually ignore that 4th argument, but I guess I should get in the habit of using it.