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Extract Values from Several Columns [VLOOKUP Quick Tip]

  • Last updated on November 8, 2010
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This article is part of our VLOOKUP Week. Read more.

Situation

VLOOKUP is great for extracting information from a huge data table based on what you are looking for. But what if you need to extract more than one column of information? For eg. Lets say you have salesperson’s name in left most column, and monthly sales figures in next columns, one for each month. Now, you want to find the total sales made by a given sales person. How do you go about it?

Data:

Data for this Example -Get Multiple Outputs [VLOOKUP Quick Tip]

Solution

Simple. You can use an array in the column number field of VLOOKUP. So for eg. =SUM(VLOOKUP(value, list, {2,3,4},false)) will give you sum of values in columns 2,3 and 4. Of course you must press CTRL+SHIFT+Enter after typing the formula. See few more examples:

Examples:

Data for this Example -Get Multiple Outputs [VLOOKUP Quick Tip]

Sample File

Download Example File – Get Multiple Outputs [VLOOKUP Quick Tip]

Special Thanks to

John for the tip. (Click on the name to see tip)

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

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6 Responses to “Using Lookup Formulas with Excel Tables [Video]”

  1. Damian says:
    November 9, 2010 at 8:20 am

    H1 !
    this is my very first comment.
    Can you use same technique with Excel 2003 lists ?
    thanks 😀

    Reply
  2. Tom says:
    November 9, 2010 at 6:58 pm

    Thanks, Chandoo! I like seeing the sneak peak of what's to come on Friday too 🙂

    Reply
  3. Chandoo says:
    November 11, 2010 at 8:09 am

    @Damian.. Welcome to chandoo.org. Thanks for the comments.

    Yes, you can use the same with Excel 2003 lists too.

    @Tom.. You have seen future and its awesome.. isnt it?

    Reply
  4. CP006: How to be a better analyst? – Road map for getting better at Data Analysis & Improving your career prospects | Chandoo.org - Learn Microsoft Excel Online says:
    April 24, 2014 at 8:07 am

    […] Using Tables – Video 1, Video 2 […]

    Reply
  5. CP007: aweSUM() – Overview of SUM functions in Excel | Chandoo.org - Learn Microsoft Excel Online says:
    May 3, 2014 at 7:14 am

    […] Using Tables – Video 1, Video 2 […]

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  6. Q.fg says:
    May 4, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    Hi, is there a vlookup formula for the second example (IDlist)? I used a similar formula to look up the ID for the person, but the reverse way (look up the person with the ID) comes up N/A.

    Reply

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