How To Hlookup In Excel

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If you are someone who frequently works with Microsoft Excel, you might have come across or heard of the feature called HLOOKUP. In Excel, HLOOKUP is a function that searches for a value in the top row of a table or array of values and then returns a value in the same column from a row you specify in the table or array.

In this blog post, we will guide you through the process of using the HLOOKUP function in Excel.

Understanding HLOOKUP

The H in HLOOKUP stands for ‘Horizontal’. This function is designed to aid searching horizontally across rows. By contrast, the VLOOKUP function does the same function but vertically down columns.

How to use HLOOKUP

The HLOOKUP function in Excel syntax is as follows:

=HLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, row_index_num, [range_lookup])

Here’s what each element means:

  • lookup_value: The value to search for in the first row of the table.
  • table_array: The table from which to retrieve a value.
  • row_index_num: The row in the table from which to retrieve a value. If row_index_num is less than 1, HLOOKUP returns the #VALUE! error value. If row_index_num is greater than the number of rows on the table, HLOOKUP returns the #REF! error value.
  • range_lookup: This is a logical value that specifies whether you want HLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match. If TRUE or omitted, an approximate match is returned. In other words, if an exact match is not found, the next largest value that is less than lookup_value is returned. If FALSE, HLOOKUP will find an exact match. If an exact match is not found, the error value #N/A is returned.

Example of HLOOKUP in Action

Let’s take an example to understand this function. Suppose we have a table containing sales data for different months and we want to find out the sales of a particular month.

=HLOOKUP(“June”, A1:E5, 3, FALSE)

In this example:

  • The lookup_value is “June” – the value we want to look up
  • The table_array is A1:E5 – the range of cells that contains the data
  • The row_index_num is 3 – we want to return a value from the third row
  • The range_lookup is FALSE – we want to find an exact match

With the HLOOKUP function, you can quickly and easily find the information you need without having to manually look through each row. So, don’t wait any further, start using HLOOKUP and simplify your Excel experience!