Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides

4. Lookup Functions

4.3 HLOOKUP

=HLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, row_index_num, [range_lookup]) – same as VLOOKUP but searches the first row and returns from a row below.

Worked example – monthly targets stored horizontally (sheet Targets, A1:E3):

Aug Sep Oct Nov
Pune target ₹4,00,000 ₹5,50,000 ₹4,80,000 ₹6,00,000
Nashik target ₹1,50,000 ₹1,90,000 ₹1,60,000 ₹2,20,000

=HLOOKUP("Sep",Targets!$A$1:$E$3,2,FALSE) → ₹5,50,000 (Pune, Ganeshotsav month). Row 3 would give Nashik's target.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

HLOOKUP is used less these days – many students think it is the only option for horizontal data. XLOOKUP works both horizontally and vertically, so use XLOOKUP in newer Excel. And keep month data in rows (the unpivot from Module 10), so PivotTables become easy too.

Practice task

Using HLOOKUP, show Nashik's target for the month typed in cell H1. Then do the same with XLOOKUP.