Sometimes when I do a VLOOKUP I get the wrong data. If the item I'm looking
up is not in the list, instead of returning a blank or N/A, Excel returns
the value of the next row. What gives?

Hi dude. In the VLookup dialogue box, enter false in Range_lookup to force
an exact match. HTH
--
Sincerely, Michael Colvin


"Some Dude" wrote:

Sometimes when I do a VLOOKUP I get the wrong data. If the item I'm looking
up is not in the list, instead of returning a blank or N/A, Excel returns
the value of the next row. What gives?

Dude
From Excel help....
Syntax
VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,ran ge_lookup)
Range_lookup A logical value that specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to
find an exact match or an approximate match:

If TRUE or omitted, an exact or approximate match is returned. If an exact
match is not found, the next largest value that is less than lookup_value is
returned.
The values in the first column of table_array must be placed in ascending
sort order; otherwise, VLOOKUP may not give the correct value. You can put
the values in ascending order by choosing the Sort command from the Data menu
and selecting Ascending. For more information, see Default sort orders.

If FALSE, VLOOKUP will only find an exact match. In this case, the values in
the first column of table_array do not need to be sorted. If there are two or
more values in the first column of table_array that match the lookup_value,
the first value found is used. If an exact match is not found, the error
value #N/A is returned.

HTH



"Some Dude" wrote:

Sometimes when I do a VLOOKUP I get the wrong data. If the item I'm looking
up is not in the list, instead of returning a blank or N/A, Excel returns
the value of the next row. What gives?

Show us the formula you are using.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

On Thu, 8 Jun 2006 13:46:01 -0500, "Some Dude" wrote:

Sometimes when I do a VLOOKUP I get the wrong data. If the item I'm looking
up is not in the list, instead of returning a blank or N/A, Excel returns
the value of the next row. What gives?