Webinar Overview

If you've ever asked yourself:

• "How do I find a value in one list and return a related item from another?"

• "How can I stop my formulas from showing ugly errors when data is missing?"

• "What's the real difference between VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and the new XLOOKUP?"

...then this session is for you. These are among the most common and critical questions for Excel users moving beyond the basics. This focused training is dedicated to demystifying and mastering the powerful suite of lookup functions built into Excel, providing clear answers and practical skills you can apply immediately.

Why You Should Attend

Functions like VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and XLOOKUP are legendary for a reason: they are among the most useful tools in Excel for automating data retrieval. When used correctly, they dramatically enhance your spreadsheets by improving accuracy, ensuring data integrity, and saving immense amounts of time by minimizing manual data entry and its associated errors. This webinar will transform these functions from a source of confusion into a core component of your analytical toolkit.

Areas Covered in the Session

• Function Face-Off: A clear comparison of VLOOKUP vs. HLOOKUP vs. XLOOKUP—understanding their strengths and ideal use cases.

• Formula Construction: Step-by-step guidance on how to build, use, and troubleshoot the primary lookup functions.

• Demystifying the Fourth Argument: A practical explanation of the TRUE/FALSE (or 1/0) parameter in VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP and why it is critical for accurate results.

• Future-Proofing with Tables: Learn how using Excel Tables as your data source makes your lookup formulas more robust, readable, and automatically expanding.

• Eliminating Errors: Proven techniques to avoid and handle #N/A and other common errors, creating cleaner, more professional spreadsheets.

• The Powerful Alternative: An introduction to the flexible combination of INDEX and MATCH as a powerful alternative to traditional lookup functions.

Who Will Benefit

This training is categorized as intermediate level and is perfectly suited for:

• Excel users who want to move beyond basic formulas and automate their data tasks.

• Analysts, administrators, accountants, and anyone who regularly works with data sets in Excel.

• Note: While the training will be delivered using the latest version of Excel, the concepts are relevant for users of most versions. (Please be aware that XLOOKUP is only available in Excel for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021).