Can you use VLOOKUP for partial match? Unlock the potential of VLOOKUP Partial Match in Excel, a pivotal tool for professionals and enthusiasts aiming to refine their data analysis and management techniques. This guide is dedicated to unraveling the intricacies of VLOOKUP Partial Match, offering insights into its practical applications, and providing tips to leverage this function for efficient data handling. Embrace the journey to becoming proficient in utilizing VLOOKUP Partial Match, a skill that promises to transform your approach to Excel spreadsheets.

1. VLOOKUP Partial Match: Can you use
VLOOKUP for partial match?
Example 1: Finding Product Prices with Partial Product Names
Scenario: You're tasked with updating a price list, but you only remember parts of the product
names. Your goal is to find and update the prices of these products in an extensive inventory
list.
Data Setup:
• Column A lists product names.
• Column B lists their corresponding prices.
• You remember the partial name of a product: "Deluxe".
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Organize Your Data: Ensure your product names are in column A and their prices in
column B of your Excel sheet.
2. Enter Partial Match Formula:
• In a new cell, enter the formula: =VLOOKUP("*Deluxe*", A:B, 2, FALSE).
• The * symbols act as wildcards, matching any sequence of characters before or
after "Deluxe".

2. • A:B defines the range to search in, 2 tells Excel to return the value from the
second column, and FALSE specifies an exact match, allowing the wildcard
search to work.
Outcome: Excel searches through column A for any product name containing "Deluxe" and
returns the price from column B.
Example 2: Retrieving Employee Department by Partial Name
Scenario: You need to quickly find out which department an employee named "Smith" works
in, but your database contains several Smiths with only their full names listed.
Data Setup:
• Column A lists full employee names.
• Column B lists their departments.
• Known partial name: "Smith".
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Prepare Your Employee List: Make sure employees' names are in column A, with
department names in column B.
2. Implement Partial Match Lookup:
• Use the formula: =VLOOKUP("*Smith*", A:B, 2, FALSE).
• This formula tells Excel to look for any name with "Smith" in it and return the
corresponding department.
Outcome: The department for the first occurrence of an employee name containing "Smith" is
displayed.

3. Example 3: Consolidating Customer Feedback by Product Code
Scenario: Customer feedback scores need to be compiled by product code. However, due to
typos or variations in entry, product codes have inconsistencies.
Data Setup:
• Column A contains varied product codes.
• Column B contains feedback scores.
• Known part of the product code: "123".
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Arrange Feedback Data: Ensure product codes are in column A, with feedback scores
in column B.
2. Apply VLOOKUP with Wildcards:
• Enter the formula: =VLOOKUP("*123*", A:B, 2, FALSE).
• The formula searches for any entry in column Athat includes "123" and retrieves
the feedback score from column B.
Outcome: You'll obtain the feedback score for products with codes containing "123".
Example 4: Locating Document Titles Containing a Keyword
Scenario: You're organizing a repository of documents and need to find the storage location of
all documents related to reports.
Data Setup:
• Column A has document titles.
• Column B has their storage locations.

4. • Keyword to search for: "Report".
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Setup Your Document List: Document titles in column A, locations in column B.
2. Use VLOOKUP for Keyword Search:
• Input the formula: =VLOOKUP("*Report*", A:B, 2, FALSE).
• This looks for any document title with "Report" and pulls its location.
Outcome: The location of the first document containing "Report" in its title is displayed.
Example 5: Tracking Orders by Customer Nickname
Scenario: You need to find specific orders placed under various nicknames or partial names by
customers, such as "Mike", in a large sales database.
Data Setup:
• Column A contains customer names.
• Column B contains order numbers.
• Partial customer name: "Mike".
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Organize Sales Data: Ensure customer names are in column A and order numbers in
column B.
2. Deploy VLOOKUP with Partial Matching:
• Enter the formula: =VLOOKUP("*Mike*", A:B, 2, FALSE).

5. • This command searches for any customer name with "Mike" and retrieves the
associated order number.
Outcome: You'll get the order number for the first customer with a name that includes "Mike".
These examples illustrate the flexibility of VLOOKUP in handling partial matches, enabling
you to navigate through data with ease, even when complete information isn't available or is
inconsistently entered.