Suppose you know it is in row 10, then use
=MATCH(A2,[LookupData.xls]Sheet1!$A10:IV10,0)
best wishes
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Bernard V Liengme
Microsoft Excel MVP
http://people.stfx.ca/bliengme
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"sharonm" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I am using the Column function to get the Column number from a different
seperate workbook like the following:

=COLUMN('L:\My Documents\[LookupData.xls]Sheet1'!$O$2)

The above returns 15. (LookupData is a different workbook than where this
formula is being used.)

Would anyone know if I could return the column number where a reference
value from the current workbook is contained in the workbook LookupData.
For
example, I have "Apples" in CellA2 in the current workbook, how can I get
the
column number in LookupData which contains the text "Apples"?

Thanks in advance!