I'm an experienced Excel user, and have run into something beyond strange. My
vlookups (whether manually entered or run as part of an existing macro) will
now ONLY return the looked-up value for the first entry when I drop OR paste
the contents of the first cell down.

FOR EXAMPLE: If I have two sheets - one with names and phone numbers and one
with names and birthdays, and i try to do a vlookup on name between the two
sheets, it looks like this:

Sam 3/29/78 414-323-4132
Sally 5/23/68 414-323-4132
Tara 2/2/34 414-323-4132

I can then continue to paste the copied (original) formula beside blank
cells, and it will still continue to return the 414-323-4132 number.
STRANGE! - and FRUSTRATING!!!

Can someone help? Is there a setting I've inadvertently clicked? I've
already verified data types, forms, etc...the standard stuff. I've also shut
down/restarted, etc...nothing. I know it's not the reports b/c the VLOOKUP
works on other computers on the same reports. WHAT DID I DO?!?


--
Thank you! - Jennifer

Just based on your sample, the phone numbers are all the same, so that
might explain why a VLOOKUP on Sam and Sally would appear to return
only Sam's phone number.


HTH,
JP

On Mar 10, 10:55*pm, Jennifer Cali
wrote:
I'm an experienced Excel user, and have run into something beyond strange. My
vlookups (whether manually entered or run as part of an existing macro) will
now ONLY return the looked-up value for the first entry when I drop OR paste
the contents of the first cell down.

FOR EXAMPLE: If I have two sheets - one with names and phone numbers and one
with names and birthdays, and i try to do a vlookup on name between the two
sheets, it looks like this:

Sam 3/29/78 *414-323-4132
Sally 5/23/68 *414-323-4132
Tara 2/2/34 *414-323-4132

Sorry, the example was the problem I'm having. Sally has a different number
than Sam who has a different number than Tara.
--
Thank you! - Jennifer


"JP" wrote:

Just based on your sample, the phone numbers are all the same, so that
might explain why a VLOOKUP on Sam and Sally would appear to return
only Sam's phone number.


HTH,
JP

On Mar 10, 10:55 pm, Jennifer Cali
wrote:
I'm an experienced Excel user, and have run into something beyond strange. My
vlookups (whether manually entered or run as part of an existing macro) will
now ONLY return the looked-up value for the first entry when I drop OR paste
the contents of the first cell down.

FOR EXAMPLE: If I have two sheets - one with names and phone numbers and one
with names and birthdays, and i try to do a vlookup on name between the two
sheets, it looks like this:

Sam 3/29/78 414-323-4132
Sally 5/23/68 414-323-4132
Tara 2/2/34 414-323-4132

Are you using FALSE as the last argument of VLOOKUP? That would ensure
that only an exact match is found. For example

=VLOOKUP("Sam",A1:C100,3,FALSE)

Assuming your data was in A1:C100.


HTH,
JP

On Mar 10, 11:09*pm, Jennifer Cali
wrote:
Sorry, the example was the problem I'm having. Sally has a different number
than Sam who has a different number than Tara.
--
Thank you! - Jennifer



"JP" wrote:
Just based on your sample, the phone numbers are all the same, so that
might explain why a VLOOKUP on Sam and Sally would appear to return
only Sam's phone number.

HTH,
JP

Yep, I'm definitely including the FALSE.

The other *odd* thing I see is even AFTER the cells caluculate, the workbook
continues to say "CALCULATE" in the bottom left corner. Thoughts?

--
Thank you! - Jennifer


"JP" wrote:

Are you using FALSE as the last argument of VLOOKUP? That would ensure
that only an exact match is found. For example

=VLOOKUP("Sam",A1:C100,3,FALSE)

Assuming your data was in A1:C100.


HTH,
JP

On Mar 10, 11:09 pm, Jennifer Cali
wrote:
Sorry, the example was the problem I'm having. Sally has a different number
than Sam who has a different number than Tara.
--
Thank you! - Jennifer



"JP" wrote:
Just based on your sample, the phone numbers are all the same, so that
might explain why a VLOOKUP on Sam and Sally would appear to return
only Sam's phone number.

HTH,
JP

I'd follow Tyro's suggestion and post some real sample data, along
with the formula you are actually using.

Regarding the "Calculate" message, it's difficult to debug what's
going on because we have no way to tell what your worksheet
environment looks like. If you have too many formulas (esp array
formulas), other design elements, fonts, etc that message can remain
permanently.

Check out this KB:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/243495


HTH,
JP

On Mar 10, 11:22*pm, Jennifer Cali
wrote:
Yep, I'm definitely including the FALSE.

The other *odd* thing I see is even AFTER the cells caluculate, the workbook
continues to say "CALCULATE" in the bottom left corner. Thoughts?

--
Thank you! - Jennifer



"JP" wrote:
Are you using FALSE as the last argument of VLOOKUP? That would ensure
that only an exact match is found. For example

=VLOOKUP("Sam",A1:C100,3,FALSE)

Assuming your data was in A1:C100.

HTH,
JP

On Mar 10, 11:09 pm, Jennifer Cali
wrote:
Sorry, the example was the problem I'm having. Sally has a different number
than Sam who has a different number than Tara.
--
Thank you! - Jennifer

"JP" wrote:
Just based on your sample, the phone numbers are all the same, so that
might explain why a VLOOKUP on Sam and Sally would appear to return
only Sam's phone number.

HTH,
JP- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

May I see your data and your formula?

Tyro

"Jennifer Cali" wrote in message
...
I'm an experienced Excel user, and have run into something beyond strange.
My
vlookups (whether manually entered or run as part of an existing macro)
will
now ONLY return the looked-up value for the first entry when I drop OR
paste
the contents of the first cell down.

FOR EXAMPLE: If I have two sheets - one with names and phone numbers and
one
with names and birthdays, and i try to do a vlookup on name between the
two
sheets, it looks like this:

Sam 3/29/78 414-323-4132
Sally 5/23/68 414-323-4132
Tara 2/2/34 414-323-4132

I can then continue to paste the copied (original) formula beside blank
cells, and it will still continue to return the 414-323-4132 number.
STRANGE! - and FRUSTRATING!!!

Can someone help? Is there a setting I've inadvertently clicked? I've
already verified data types, forms, etc...the standard stuff. I've also
shut
down/restarted, etc...nothing. I know it's not the reports b/c the VLOOKUP
works on other computers on the same reports. WHAT DID I DO?!?


--
Thank you! - Jennifer

Hi Jennifer,

I understand how frustrating it can be when Excel functions don't work as expected. Based on your description, it seems like the VLOOKUP function is not updating the lookup value as you copy it down to other cells. This could be due to a few reasons:

1. Absolute reference: Check if the lookup value in your VLOOKUP formula has an absolute reference (denoted by a "$" sign). If it does, then Excel will always refer to the same cell, regardless of where you paste the formula. To fix this, remove the "$" sign from the lookup value.
2. Table range: Make sure that the table range in your VLOOKUP formula is correct and includes all the rows and columns that you want to lookup. If the range is too small, Excel will only lookup the first value and return it for all subsequent cells.
3. Data type: Ensure that the data type of the lookup value is the same in both sheets. For example, if the lookup value is a number in one sheet and text in another, Excel may not be able to match them correctly.
4. Hidden characters: Sometimes, there may be hidden characters or spaces in the lookup value that prevent Excel from matching it correctly. Try using the TRIM function to remove any extra spaces.

To troubleshoot further, you can try the following steps:

1. Copy the lookup value from the first cell and paste it into a blank cell. Then, try using the VLOOKUP function on this new cell. If it works correctly, then the issue may be with the original cell.

2. Check if there are any filters applied to the table range. If there are, try removing them and see if the VLOOKUP function works correctly.

3. If none of the above steps work, try recreating the VLOOKUP formula from scratch in a new cell and see if it works correctly.