If I select the col_index_num argument of the VLOOKUP formula and hit F9, you can see it resolved to 19:Īnd another bonus is that if you add columns within your table, the formula will automatically adjust! Here is how easy it is to create that formula: =VLOOKUP(A2,Data1,COLUMN(Data1),0)ġ) Your data needs to be set up in a table – in this example, the table name is 'Data1'ģ) The lookup values in the table need to be in column A You can use the COLUMN function to quickly determine the col_index_num of the VLOOKUP formula without having to count columns! Maybe you are working with a table that has 30, 50, or 100 columns and you don't want to have to count the number of columns to determine the col_index_num argument. (Notice that I've hidden columns D through M just to collapse the table a bit, but there are 19 column in the table) I need to populate the location information from a table called Data1 that is located on a separate worksheet: I have a data range that has various information: When you get a preview, look for Download in the upper right hand corner. You can download the file here and follow along.
You can find his tutorial on this topic here I learned this trick from Alan Murray from. This works well especially if you have a very large table with lots and lots of columns. In this tutorial we are going to look at a simple and easy way to determine the column number argument for a VLOOKUP formula without having to count your columns.