Which spreadsheet tool searches for matches to a specified value in one column, returning a corresponding piece of information from another location?

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Multiple Choice

Which spreadsheet tool searches for matches to a specified value in one column, returning a corresponding piece of information from another location?

This question targets vertical lookup: finding a value in the leftmost column of a table and returning related data from another column in the same row. VLOOKUP is designed for this exact pattern. You give it the value to find, the table range, and which column to pull the result from. It searches the first column for your key and then returns the corresponding value from the specified column to the right. For example, if column A has employee IDs and column B has names, you can look up an ID and return the associated name from column B. HLOOKUP wouldn’t fit because it searches across the top row, not down a column. LOOKUP can perform similar tasks but is less predictable with unsorted data. INDEX with MATCH can achieve the same result but requires more steps than the straightforward VLOOKUP. So, the best fit for searching a value in one column and returning a related piece of information from another location is VLOOKUP.

This question targets vertical lookup: finding a value in the leftmost column of a table and returning related data from another column in the same row. VLOOKUP is designed for this exact pattern. You give it the value to find, the table range, and which column to pull the result from. It searches the first column for your key and then returns the corresponding value from the specified column to the right.

For example, if column A has employee IDs and column B has names, you can look up an ID and return the associated name from column B. HLOOKUP wouldn’t fit because it searches across the top row, not down a column. LOOKUP can perform similar tasks but is less predictable with unsorted data. INDEX with MATCH can achieve the same result but requires more steps than the straightforward VLOOKUP.

So, the best fit for searching a value in one column and returning a related piece of information from another location is VLOOKUP.

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