Vlookup returning incorrect values

Question

I have this formula =VLOOKUP(D86,'Project Scoring'!D:O, 12, TRUE). For some reason it throws back incorrect values but not always.

I am wondering if there is a better way to do this with index/match? Attached are screenshots to help. Change Log Project Scoring

Answer 1

TRUE will give an approximate match - it sounds like you want an exact match which means passing FALSE as the final argument.

If you do in fact mean to use an approximate match, then you need to ensure that your data is ordered in a proper way for the approximate match to work.

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EDIT: Looking at your data, you have multiple values in a single cell where your lookup data is concerned. VLOOKUP is not designed to be used for this purpose. You're best looking at using INDEX/MATCH and using a wildcard ( * ) in your match statement. Again, there is a chance that this could also return false positives.

The underlying problem here isn't necessarily down to your "weapon of choice" but rather that your data isn't designed in a way that can be easily processed by formulas because you technically have "one-to-many" relationships between cells. In this case, something like a Pivot table or a "proper" table might be a better design for you to consider.