Final answer:
VLOOKUP is an Excel function that searches for a value in the first column of a range and returns a corresponding value from a specified column within the same row.
Step-by-step explanation:
The VLOOKUP function in Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool used to search for specific information in a table or range. Functionally, VLOOKUP looks for a value in the first column of a range and returns a value in the same row from a column you specify. For example, if you have a table with employee names and their IDs, you can use VLOOKUP to find an employee's ID by searching for their name.
The syntax of the VLOOKUP function is VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup]) where:
- lookup_value is the value you want to search for.
- table_array is the range of cells that contains the data.
- col_index_num is the column number in the table from which to retrieve the value.
- [range_lookup] is an optional argument that specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match.
It is commonly used in many business, finance, and administrative functions to quickly retrieve information without manually searching through large datasets.