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Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

  1. #1
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    Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    Hello Everyone,

    I am trying to VLOOKUP the first 5 characters of a column (column F) in column G.

    EDIT: SEE EXAMPLE FILE IN 2nd POST

    Cell F2 contains "ABCD112311121". I want to use VLOOKUP to simply have column G2 simply pull back "ABCD1."

    I have tried =VLOOKUP(LEFT(F2,4)&"*",$F:$F,1,FALSE), and that is not working.

    Column F is formatted as "general," and Column Y is formatted as general.

    Halp,

    JGBIII
    Last edited by jgbiii; 03-09-2015 at 09:25 AM.

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    Re: Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    Take a look at the attached sample and see if this could work. F1 is where you can input what you are looking for in column A. If this isn't clear enough, consider uploading a sample workbook.
    Attached Files Attached Files
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    Re: Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    Not sure what you need exactly
    But this may help
    =INDEX(F3:F100,MATCH(LEFT(F2,4),LEFT(F3:F100,4),0)) just change the 100 to your requirement and enter with Ctrl+Shift+Enter as this is an array formula
    Happy to Help

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    Re: Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    Attached example file
    Attached Files Attached Files

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    Re: Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    What should be the desired result?
    Please provide more examples...

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    Re: Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    The desired result is G2 populating with the first 5 characters from F2, and G3 populating with the first 5 characters from F3.

    So on and so forth, F4&G4, F5&G5...

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    Re: Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    If the columns are contiguous, why use VLOOKUP() at all? Why not just use

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    in G2 and drag down?

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    Re: Vlookup only first "X" characters of a column

    Solved, thanks for the easy solution McMa

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