Mix VLOOKUP with Data Validation for some magic! [VLOOKUP Week]

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This article is part of our VLOOKUP Week. Read more.

Situation

Sometimes we don’t know what we want. If this happens when I am in a bar, I usually order a cocktail. Just a mix of everything. The same will work in Excel too.

For eg. If you have lots of data, but the value you want to look up needs to change based on whims and fancies of your users, then you can resort to a cocktail. A mix of VLOOKUP with Drop down lists (Data validation)

Data:

Data for this Example -Mix VLOOKUP with Data Validation for Some Magic

Solution

The recipe for VLOOKUP cocktail is relatively simple. We just take the list of sales person names and use it as a source for our input cell’s data validation drop down list. Rest is left to your imagination. Here is an example in action.

Examples:

Data for this Example -Mix VLOOKUP with Data Validation for Some Magic

Sample File

Download Example File – Mix VLOOKUP with Data Validation for Some Magic

Similar Tips

VLOOKUP Week @ Chandoo.org - Learn tips on lookup formulas in Excel

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4 Responses to “How windy is Wellington? – Using Power Query to gather wind data from web”

  1. rod says:

    Breaking - Wind jokes at Chandoo

    Kiwis sniffing for clues about blog post reason

  2. Jeff Weir says:

    It's confirmed: Wellington is windier than Uranus.

  3. Robson says:

    Acompanhando e aguardando ansiosamente a segunda parte.

    []s.

    [Google translate]: Accompanying and eagerly awaiting the second part

  4. kartik says:

    hi chandoo,
    i've tried using power query, however i face a rather weird problem. when i click on 'from web' option, the URL window does not show option for basic and advanced. thus i'm unable to form parameters in URL. how i can resolve this issue?

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