It's not necessary, but it is recommended.

The $ sign indicates an absolute reference, i.e., a cell reference that does
not change if the formula it is used in is copied down.

Since people frequently use VLOOKUP to match a column of values with another
column of values in a separate table, it makes sense to construct the VLOOKUP
with absolute references; else the table array referenced in the VLOOKUP will
change as the formula is filled down. For more info on absolute vs relative
references in XL, see he http://www.cpearson.com/excel/relative.htm

Dave

--
Brevity is the soul of wit.


"*Suzannah*" wrote:

Hi :) can someone please tell me why the dollar sign ($) is necessary in the
VLOOKUP function?