CP002: VTALKUP – 5 Excel lookup functions demystified + 4 Resources for you

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In the second session of Chandoo.org Podcast, We will be learning how to use 5 Excel lookup functions.

CP002: VTALKUP - Demystifying 5 Excel lookup functions + 4 resources for you

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What is in this session?

In this session, we tackle one of the most important areas of Excel. The lookup functions.

You will learn,

  • Why lookup functions are necessary
  • 5 Important lookup functions in Excel – VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, LOOKUP, MATCH & INDEX
  • When & how to use each of these 5 functions?
  • Extreme scenarios:
    • What happens when the value you are looking up is not there?
    • What if too many items match the lookup value?
    • What if you have too many conditions in the lookup criteria?
  • Using IFERROR function
  • Re-cap of the new powers you acquired
  • 4 Resources for you to learn lookup functions better

Go ahead and listen to the show.

Links & Resources mentioned in this session:

4 Resources to learn lookup functions:

  1. Comprehensive guide to Excel lookup functions
  2. VLOOKUP Cheatsheet
  3. The VLOOKUP Quiz – test your knowledge
  4. Recommended book: The VLOOKUP Book

Example workbook for this podcast:

Click here to download example workbook to play with the ideas mentioned in this podcast.

Other formulas and links mentioned in this podcast:

Special gift for you:

  • Listen to this session to unlock a special gift for you.

Transcript of this session:

Download session transcript [PDF]

Thanks to Jordan

I almost forgot. Special thanks to Jordan (@SpikingWhamos) for suggesting VTALKUP as a name.

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Now its your turn to talk

Do you use lookup formulas in Excel? What do you use them for? Where do you struggle? What new things have you learned about them thru this podcast? Please share your views, suggestions, questions and tips in the comments area below.

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13 Responses to “Convert fractional Excel time to hours & minutes [Quick tip]”

  1. Debraj Roy says:

    Hi Purna..

    Again a great tip.. Its a great way to convert Fractional Time..
    By the way.. Excel has two great and rarely used formula..

    =DOLLARFR(7.8,60) and =DOLLARDE(7.48,60)

    basically US Account person uses those to convert some currency denomination.. and we can use it to convert Year(i.e 3.11 Year = 3 year 11 month) and Week(6.5 week = 6 week 5 days), in the same manner...

  2. Jason says:

    This doesn't work for me. When applying the custom format of [h]:mm to 7.8 I get 187:12

    Any ideas why?

    • Hui... says:

      @Jason
      7.8 in Excel talk means 7.8 days
      =7.8*24
      =187.2 Hrs
      =187 Hrs 12 Mins

      If you follow Chandoo's instructions you will see that he divides the 7.8 by 24 to get it to a fraction of a day

      Simple, assuming the fractional time is in cell A1,

      Use below steps to convert it to hours & minutes:

      1. In the target cell, write =A1/24
      2. Select the target cell and press CTRL+1 to format it (you can also right click and select format cells)
      3. Select Custom from “Number” tab and enter the code [h]:mm
      4. Done!

  3. WhoKnows says:

    Hi, sorry to point this out but Column C Header is misspelt 'Hours Palyed'

  4. abhishek malik says:

    good one

  5. Julia says:

    So how do I go the other way and get hours and minutes to fractional time?

    • Chandoo says:

      If you have 7.5 in cell A1,

      - Use int(A1) to get the hours.
      - Use mod(A1,1)*60 to get minutes.

      If you have 7:30 (formatted as time) in A1

      - Use hours(a1) to get hours
      - Use minutes(a1) to get minutes.

      • Paula says:

        I had the same issue. You can solve it by changing the format as described above:

        Right click cell > Format Cells > (In Number tab) > Custom > Then enter the code [h]:mm
        ([hh]:mm and [hhh]:mm are nice too if you want to show leading zeros)

        • Jack Scarce says:

          Thanks guys, these are the tips I'm looking for.
          ...dividing the number of minutes elapsed by the percent change is my task - "int" is the key this time

  6. Srikanth says:

    It doesnt work for greater than 24 hours
    It returns 1:30 for 25.5 hours. It should have returned 25:30

    Ideally I would right function as
    =QUOTIENT(A1,1)&":"&MOD(A1,1)*60

    • Paula says:

      Sorry, replied to wrong comment....

      ----
      I had the same issue. You can solve it by changing the format as described above:

      Right click cell > Format Cells > (In Number tab) > Custom > Then enter the code [h]:mm
      ([hh]:mm and [hhh]:mm are nice too if you want to show leading zeros)

  7. Daniel says:

    Clever use of MOD here to extract the decimal part of a number. Divide a number containing a decimal by 1 and return the remainder. Humm. Very clever.

  8. Tomer says:

    Thanks very much, extremely useful !

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