VBA VLookup – A Complete Guide

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VBA Lookup

“Constant effort and frequent mistakes are the stepping stones to genius” – Elbert Hubbard

 

A Quick Guide to the VBA VLookup

ParametersType
Lookup valueThe value you are searching for
Table array
The range you are searching through
Column indexThe column number of the value to return.
Range look upOptional - set to False for exact match only.


 
 

Introduction

The VLookup function can be a useful Excel function. Even though it is straightforward to use can often be confusing when used in VBA. In this post, I am going to show how anyone can easily use the VLookup function. I’ll also cover the pitfalls and how to avoid them. Of course, not post would be complete without a ton of examples that you can try for yourself.

If you are not familiar with VLookup in Excel then this page provides a great introduction.

 
 
Notes: I use the Underscore character(_) in the code examples. In VBA this allows you to split a line over multiple lines e.g.

' One line
sResult = Application.VLookup("Apricot", Sheet1.Range("A10:B10000"), 1)

 
 

' Split up with underscore
sResult = Application.VLookup( _
    "Apricot", Sheet1.Range("A10:B10000"), 1)

 
 

A Simple VBA VLookup example

Note: The variable shData in the examples refers to the worksheet by the code name. You can replace this with the code name of the worksheet you are using.

Take a look at the following data

VBA VLookup

 
 
The code below will return the price for the Orange 1.45

Sub SimpleVLookup()
    
    Dim sRes As String
    sRes = Application.VLookup("Pear",shData.Range("A2:B7"),2)
    
    ' This will print 1.67 to the Immediate Window(Ctrl + G)
    Debug.Print sRes
    
End Sub

 
 
The code looks for the text Pear in the range A2:B7. When it finds the text it returns a value from the same row as the text. The value in determined by the column number argument. We used 2 in this example.

 
 
VBA Lookup

 
 
VBA Lookup

 
 
Let’s look at some more examples and results

' Returns 1.45
sRes = Application.VLookup("Orange",shData.Range("A2:B7"),2)

' Returns 1.56
sRes = Application.VLookup("Apple",shData.Range("A2:B7"),2)

' Returns 1.22
sRes = Application.VLookup("Plum",shData.Range("A2:B7"),2)

' Returns Orange as column is 1
sRes = Application.VLookup("Orange",shData.Range("A2:B7"),1)

' Returns Apple as column is 1
sRes = Application.VLookup("Apple",shData.Range("A2:B7"),1)

' Returns Plum as column is 1
sRes = Application.VLookup("Plum",shData.Range("A2:B7"),1)

 
 

The Parameters

In this section we will look at the four parameters. These are

  1. lookup_value – The value to look up. It must be in the first column of the range.
  2. table_array – This is the range to search. This can also be a VBA array although it very slow using this.
  3. col_index_num – This contains the column number of the return value. Starts at column number one.
  4. range_lookup(optional) – Use True(default) to find closest match. Use False to find exact match. Using True assumes that the first columnis sorted alphabetically or numerically.

 
We will look at these parameters individually starting with the lookup_value parameter.

 
 

Parameter 1: lookup_value

This is the value that you are looking up. It must be in the first column of the Range. If you are using the range C4:X10 then the lookup value must be in column C. If you are using the range Z1:AB5 then the lookup value must be in column Z.

 
 
The type of value you search for will normally be a string as this example shows

Sub StringVLookup()
    
    Dim sFruit As String
    sFruit = "Plum"
    
    Dim sRes As Variant
    sRes = Application.VLookup( _
                       sFruit, shData.Range("A2:B7"), 2, False)
    
End Sub

 
 
We can also search for a number but you have to be careful here:

  1. If the number is stored as text then the search value must be a string.
  2. If the number is stored as a number then the search value must be a number.

 
 
For example in this data we have the lookup column stored as numbers

VBA Lookup

 
 
In this case, the lookup value must be a Long or you will get an error message.

Sub NumberVLookup()
    
    Dim num As Long
    num = 7
    
    Dim sRes As Variant
    sRes = Application.VLookup( _
                  num, shData.Range("F2:G7"), 2, True)
    
    Debug.Print sRes
    
End Sub

 
 
You can also use the Double data type if you are looking up a decimal value. As in the case of an integer it must be stored as a number if you want to use Double.

 
 

Using VLookup on a Date Type

Using a Date type is a tricky business. VBA has a Date data type but the worksheet does not.

 
 
So the date type needs to be converted to a Long as the following examples show

theDate = CLng(#1/14/2017#)

theDate = CLng(CDate("1/14/2017"))

theDate = CLng(shData.Range("H10"))

 
 
You can then use it as normal in the VLookup function when the search column contains dates

Sub DateVLookup()
    
    Dim theDate As Long
    theDate = CLng(#1/14/2017#)
    
    Dim sRes As Variant
    sRes = Application.VLookup( _
                 theDate, shData.Range("I2:J7"), 2, False)
    
    Debug.Print sRes
    
End Sub

 
 

Parameter 2: table_array

This parameter refers to the range of the data we are looking up. You will normally use a range for this as we have seen in the examples so far.

If you are using a worksheet table you can use the range of the table. 

Sub SimpleVLookupTable()
    
    Dim sRes As Variant
    
    ' Get the table
    Dim table As ListObject
    Set table = shData.ListObjects("Table1")
    
    ' Use the table for the table_array parameter
    sRes = Application.VLookup( _
                  "Plum", table.Range, 2, False)
    
    Debug.Print sRes
    
End Sub

 
 
You can also use a VBA array with VLookup but this tends to be very slow.

 
 

Parameter 3: col_index-num

This parameter refers to the column which contains the value you want to return. Column 1 is the leftmost column of the table_array.

If the column number is greater than the number of columns in the range you will get an error. See The VLookup Error Types section below.

 
 

VBA Lookup

© BigStockPhoto.com

 
 

Parameter 4: range_lookup

This is an optional parameter. If it is not used then it takes True as the default value.

False means that an exact match must be found.
True means that an approximate match will be returned. The first column must be ordered numerically or alphabetically for this to work correctly.

Let’s look at the sample data again

VBA VLookup

 
 
The following code shows some examples of how this parameter works

Sub SimpleVLookup()

    Dim rg As Range
    Set rg = shData.Range("A2:B7")
    
    Dim sRes As Variant
    
    ' Stops at Orange - the last item before a P item
    sRes = Application.VLookup("P", rg, 2, True)
    
    ' Stops at Orange - the last item before a Pea item
    sRes = Application.VLookup("Pea", rg, 2, True)
    
    ' Stops at Peach - the last item before a Pead item
    sRes = Application.VLookup("Pead", rg, 2, True)
    
    ' Error - no exact match found
    sRes = Application.VLookup("Pea", rg, 2, False)

    
End Sub

 
 

Dealing with Errors

VBA VLookup Errors

© BigStockPhoto.com

 
 
We can use VLookup in two ways in VBA. With Application or with WorksheetFunction

Application.WorksheetFunction.VLookup

Application.VLookup

 
 
The difference between them is how we handle errors. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

 
 

Using WorksheetFunction

Using WorksheetFunction.VLookup requires us to use On Error to trap the error. We can then check the error number Err.Number to see if the value is valid.

Sub UseWorksheetFunction()
    
    Dim sRes As Variant
    
    ' Turn on error trapping
    On Error Resume Next
    Err.Clear
    
    sRes = Application.WorksheetFunction.VLookup _
                ("Plum", shData.Range("A2:B7"), 2, False)
    
    ' Check if value found
    If Err.Number = 0 Then
        Debug.Print "Found item. The value is " & sRes
    Else
        Debug.Print "Could not find value: " & "Plum"
    End If
    
End Sub

 
 

Using Application

Using Application.VLookup we can simply check the return value to see if there was an error

Sub UsingApplication()
    
    Dim sRes As Variant
    
    sRes = Application.VLookup _
                ("Plum", shData.Range("A2:B7"), 2, False)
    
    ' Check if value found
    If IsError(sRes) = False Then
        Debug.Print "Found item. The value is " & sRes
    Else
        Debug.Print "Could not find value: " & "Plum"
    End If
    
End Sub

 
 

VLookup Error Types

The following table shows a list of the Excel cell error numbers and what they mean. These are the error numbers we get when we use Application.VLookup. This is taken from this MSDN Page

ConstantError numberCell error value
xlErrDiv02007#DIV/0
xlErrNA2042#N/A
xlErrName2029#NAME?
xlErrNull2000#NULL!
xlErrNum2036#NUM!
xlErrRef2023#REF!
xlErrValue2015#VALUE!

 
 

Errors and Causes

The following table shows some common errors you may encounter with VLookup. If you’re having trouble with a particular VLookup error then it is a good idea to try it in Excel first.

 
 

ErrorCellPossible causes
Error 2015#VALUE!The column number is less than one.
Error 2015
#VALUE!You used a string instead of a range for the table_array parameter.
Error 2023#REF!The column number is greater than the number of columns.
Error 2042#N/AThe value is not found. See possible causes below.

 
 
If you cannot find the value then check the following:

  1. Ensure the Table/Range is correct.
  2. Ensure the Table/Range does not include the header(VBA will think list is unsorted).
  3. Ensure the Table/Range is using the correct worksheet.
  4. If searching for a number use a long or double data type in the lookup_value parameter. See lookup_value section above
  5. If searching for a number stored as text use a string data type in the lookup_value parameter.
  6. If searching for a date convert it to a long(see Date Type above) in the lookup_value parameter.

 
 
If you are getting the wrong value then check the following:

  1. If the range_lookup parameter is True or not used, then ensure the first column is sorted alphabetically or numerically (see range_lookup above)

 
 

VBA VLookup Speed

Sometimes you may need to perform a large number of lookups. In these cases, VLookup could be too slow. The VBA Dictionary is faster when dealing with a large number of lookups. The following code shows an example of using the Dictonary.

Sub UseDictionary()

    ' Get the range of values
    Dim rg As Range
    Set rg = shData.Range("M1:N20000")
    
    ' Create the dictionary
    Dim dict As Object
    Set dict = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
    
    ' Fill the dictionary
    Dim cell As Range
    For Each cell In rg
        dict(cell.Value) = cell.Offset(0, 1).Value
    Next
    
    ' Perform the Lookups
    For Each cell In rg
        Debug.Print dict(cell.Value)
    Next

End Sub

 
 

What’s Next?

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39 comments

  1. A masterpiece blog..

    Thank you Paul, for writing this. What else to say!!

    As you already know index match is much more efficient than vlookup which can further enhance the value of this topic. How about educating your audience in that area. In no way, I mean to under rate what you written for us.

    Ravi.

    Reply

  2. Hi Paul,
    first of all i like your explenations its great.

    I had a question. how do i get de results on a field i want?
    For example i want vba to return the results on sheet2 column b

    kind regards

    Reply

    1. This depends on what exactly your results are. You write to a sheet using

      sheet2.Range("B2") = Vlookup()

       
      If you have multiple results then you need some kind of loop

      Reply

      1. Hello Paul,
        How can we give 2 lookup values and get the result in single cell. Kindly help me on this.
        Thanks.

        Reply

  3. Little comment to the part about the vlookup speed, if anybody would consider what solution to use when dealing with lots of data:
    I have some data I get from the MRP system once a week. It contains over 70 000 rows (each for the single stock unit). One of things I need to do is pasting additional data in a column corresponding to those stock units).
    So I checked three ways of doing this, after opening another file, from which I obtain this additional numbers:
    1) using .FormulaR1C1 property to insert worksheet VLookup / or Index with Match function into the cells and quickly transforming them into values
    2) using Application.Vlookup
    3) using the dictionary like here
    I used the Timer to measure the full time of those operations and there is only one winner:
    1st method lasted 5 minutes and 34 seconds
    2nd method – 4 minutes and 45 seconds
    3rd method – 33 seconds.

    Reply

    1. Hi Tomek,

      Thanks for those comparisons. They are interesting to read.

      It’s another illustration of how memory is much faster for dealing with large amounts of data.

      Reply

  5. Hi Kelly…I want to achieve VLOOKUP using dictionary, in getting this resolved I need your assistance.
    Your immediate response is appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Surendra K.

    Reply

  6. As always, your article is very clear, but I’m still not sure where I should use vlookup over other methods? Are there any hidden upsides?

    Reply

    1. Hi Colin,

      You normally use if the data is already on a worksheet and the format is suitable.
      If you are going to be doing lots of lookups then a Dictionary is much faster.

      Paul

      Reply

    1. Hi John,

      shData refers to the Code Name
      of the worksheet. You can refer to the worksheet directly using the code name from the same workbook.

      I will update the post as it is not clear.

      Regards
      Paul

      Reply

  8. Hi Paul,

    If there is a duplicate in column A (A6=Pears and A8=Pears), how do I get the result for the second entry?
    I am using a user form with a text entry to look up data.

    Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
    On Error GoTo MyErrorHandler:

    Dim name As String
    name = TextBox1.Text
    sal = Application.WorksheetFunction.VLookup(name, Sheet1.Range(“A2:D5”), 4, False)
    MsgBox “Salary is ” & sal

    MyErrorHandler:
    If Err.Number = 1004 Then
    MsgBox “Does Not Exist”
    End If
    End Sub

    Reply

    1. Hi Denis,

      VLookup expects the lookup value to be unique. If you can make them unique e.g. using firstname and surname it is the best solution.

      You can also use Find. This can be slow if there are a lot of items.

      Paul

      Reply

  10. I have two textbox in my userform, when I enter the name in first textbox I want to perform the vlookup function with value and get the lookup value in textbox 2.

    Reply

  11. Hi Paul Thanks for this lovely post, however I am facing little problem here, below code is working fine, if the data in the variable “mydata2” is less than or equal to 68 thousands if the data is above this like you 80000, it is give an error message “Type Mismatch” in the line “Range(“B2″).Resize(UBound(mydata3), 1).Value = Application.Transpose(mydata3)”

    Sub UseDictionary()

    ‘ Get the range of values
    Dim rg As Range
    Dim mydata As Variant
    Dim mydata2 As Variant
    Dim mydata3() As Variant

    Dim mytime As Date

    mytime = Now

    mydata = Sheet1.Range(“A2:B500001”).Value
    mydata2 = Sheet2.Range(“A2:a80000”)

    ‘ Create the dictionary
    Dim dict As Object
    Set dict = CreateObject(“Scripting.Dictionary”)

    For i = LBound(mydata, 1) To UBound(mydata, 1)
    dict(mydata(i, 1)) = mydata(i, 2)
    Next i

    ReDim mydata3(1 To UBound(mydata2))

    For i = LBound(mydata2, 1) To UBound(mydata2, 1)
    mydata3(i) = dict(mydata2(i, 1))
    Next i

    Range(“B2”).Resize(UBound(mydata3), 1).Value = Application.Transpose(mydata3)

    MsgBox Format(Now – mytime, “hh:mm:ss”)

    End Sub

    Please help me where I am doing wrong

    Reply

    1. It’s not possible to find the problem without seeing the data you are using.

      Put a breakpoint on the line with the error. Place the different parts in the Watch window to find which part is causing the error.

      Reply

  14. The VBA is throwing a run time error instead of continuing to loop through my range.
    How to ignore it and continue / How to modify the code below to be using Application.Vlookup:

    Sub Get_Price()

    Dim LoopCount As Integer
    Dim OutOffset As Integer
    Dim POSHIPMENT As Workbook

    LoopCount = 2
    OutOffset = 2
    Set POSHIPMENT = Workbooks.Open(“D:\Data\Desktop\po shipments.xlsx”, True, True)

    While Worksheets(“FNDWRR”).Range(“B” & LoopCount).Value vbNullString

    Worksheets(“FNDWRR”).Range(“I” & OutOffset).Value = Application.WorksheetFunction.VLookup(Worksheets(“FNDWRR”).Range(“B” & OutOffset) & “-” & Worksheets(“FNDWRR”).Range(“C” & OutOffset), POSHIPMENT.Worksheets(“PO Shpmnts”).Range(“A:H”), 8, “FALSE”) * Worksheets(“FNDWRR”).Range(“H” & OutOffset).Value
    LoopCount = LoopCount + 1
    OutOffset = OutOffset + 1

    Wend
    End Sub

    Reply

  15. Hi Paul,

    I have made a spreadsheet to calculate the landed cost of wines we import. What I am trying to do is to make a submit button once the calculation is done to take the landed cost and put it next to the corresponding wine on worksheet 2. I have got all of our wines (roughly 200) on the 2nd worksheet and a form on the 1st worksheet which can be filled in with up to 20 wines which can be selected using a Dropdown list. On the 1st sheet, I have used the Match function in column K to return which row the wine appears on in worksheet 2, so using some of your examples, I have been trying to adapt it to work for me. This is the code;

    Private Sub CommandButton2_Click()

    Dim i As Long
    Dim x As Integer
    For i = 2 To 21

    If Range(“M” & i) > 1 Then
    x = Worksheets(1).Range(“K”, i).Value
    Worksheets(2).Cells(x, 12).Value = Worksheets(1).Range(“I” & i).Value
    End If

    Next
    End Sub

    It keeps returning a Run-time Error ’13’: and when i click Debug, it highlights the ‘x = Worksheets(1).Range(“K”, i).Value’
    Your assistance would be greatly appreciated
    Kind regards

    Reply

    1. Hi Stewart,

      You are getting a Type Mismatch.

      The variable x is an integer and I am guessing that the value of Worksheets(1).Range(“I” & i).Value is text.

      Place the cursor over value and the actual value of the cell should appear.

      Reply

  16. Hi, I’m using the method you detailed to lookup a form input [TxtRef] and then perform the Vlookup upon changing that data. And the code runs, but does not output, if I allow errors, the lookup returns Error 2042 (#N/A). I’ve checked the vlookup in a cell on a blank sheet and I get the data back, but when I add some captions to debug, the variable [table] seems to be populated with “table1” rather than the range contents… So I wonder if this is why it fails. If you have any idea, it would be greatly appreciated. (WorkList) is both the sheetname and codename)

    Private Sub TxtRef_AfterUpdate()

    Dim LookupVal As Variant
    Dim table As ListObject
    Set table = WorkList.ListObjects(“Table1”)

    LookupVal = Application.VLookup(TxtRef, table.Range, 13, False)
    Me.Output1.Caption = TxtRef
    Me.output2.Caption = table
    Me.Stat.Caption = LookupVal

    End Sub

    Reply

    1. Hi,

      Without seeing the data I would only be guessing at the issue. Try using the VLookup as a formula in a cell and compare the parameter values with the code parameters.

      This should get you closer to a resolution.

      Reply

  17. hello Paul,
    What would be the best method if I wanted to send a message to be copied to a template Letter if 3 conditions come up? So, for example, I have 3 funds from a tab named FRED which has over 21,000 of data in it and when the commands come in to run in the template to create the letter, I need to search through this data in FRED to see if these 3 funds come up, and if they do come up, a separate letter needs to populate to the ‘Letter’ template. The spread sheet is using vLoopup throughout the program with only 2 macros running. I’ve been trying different techniques that I’ve been learning, but still a bit confused. Would you suggest running an Array through the data to search then inserting a if/then statement? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

  18. Hi Paul

    How to fill different target cell with vlookup ?
    I work in one sheet
    This is example
    range1
    B3 = Name C3=P1 D3=P2 E3=P3
    B4 = Jack C4=empty D4=empty E4=empty
    B5 = Oneil C5=10 D5=empty E5=empty
    B6 = Harry C6=30 D6=15 E6=empty
    range2
    B8=Jack C8=17
    B9=Oneil C9=20
    B10=Harry C10=18

    I want a macro to fill the empty cell (C4 for Jack, D5 for Oneil and E6 for Harry) with value in C8,C9,C10
    For next month, the macro will fill cell (D4 for Jack, E5 for Oneil and F6 for Harry) and so on.
    In a single click of command button.

    Thanks.

    Reply

  19. Hi, how can i make the column index dynamic? Rather than hardcode a column index number how do I have my macro use the column number from a specificed cell in the worksheet instead? smk

    Reply

  20. Hi, i am using the following VLOOKUP comment which works great! and really could do with this working in Hlookup however it doesnt work, are there different parameters for Hlookup?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂

    Reply

    1. What you mean by “doesn’t work”?
      Create the Hlookup formula in excel first and when you are happy with it then add it to VBA.

      The parameters are the same apart from taking row instead of col.

      Reply

  21. Hello Paul, Perhaps you can help me. I have a number of workbooks I must “combine” into one master worksheet every day. Currently it takes me about an hour to accomplish. The issue is in order to combine them I must run Vlookups on each “ID” from the master worksheet for each workbook and each cell I want to update, and I am updating 26 cells per ID. Is there a way to quickly do this? Below is the macro I am using, again this only updates one cell where I need one macro to update all cells. I hope that makes sense.

    Sub GetNotes()
    Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Select

    Range(“Q2”).Value =
    “=IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\NICOLE.xlsx]NICOLE’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\JUSTIN.xlsx]JUSTIN’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\WENDY.xlsx]WENDY’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\UNDERCARRIAGE.xlsx]UNDERCARRIAGE’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\PARTS.xlsx]PARTS’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\MELISSA.xlsx]MELISSA’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\CASEY.xlsx]CASEY’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\SIStandard.xlsx]SIStandard’!$A:$U,17,0),IFERROR(VLOOKUP([@[Segment_id]],’C:\temp\EXCELTEMP\excelwork\[IRVING.xlsx]IRVING’!$A:$U,17,0),0)))))))))”
    Range(“Q2”).Select
    Selection.AutoFill Destination:=Range(“Q2:Q” & Cells(Rows.Count, “A”).End(xlUp).Row)

    End Sub

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Reply

    1. Hi Irving,

      There isn’t a quick way to do what you require.

      You need to create a small VBA application to accomplish this.

      Paul

      Reply

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