Question

Which of the following is true when creating a VLOOKUP function that will be copied and pasted to other cell locations in a worksheet?

a) Absolute cell references should be used for the lookup value.
b) Relative cell references should be used for the lookup value.
c) The table array should be locked to prevent changes.
d) The column index number should always be set to 1.

Answer 1

When creating a VLOOKUP that will be copied, the table array should be locked using absolute references to prevent changes as the function is duplicated across cells.

Step-by-step explanation:

When creating a VLOOKUP function that will be copied and pasted to other cell locations in a worksheet, the correct approach is c) The table array should be locked to prevent changes. This means using absolute references for the table array to ensure the reference does not shift when the formula is copied to another location.

While the lookup value may change and thus can often be relative, the table array should be constant if you want to prevent errors. The column index number can vary depending on which column you want to retrieve data from; it is not always set to 1.