vlookup not accepting a reference

[burke]

i'm having a problem with vlookup not accepting
a "reference" to a cell as the "lookup_value"

this =VLOOKUP(C2,range,2) returns #N/A

but if i manually type in the lookup_value

this =VLOOKUP(45484,range,2) returns DOE, JOHN

any ideas?

thanks,
burke

 

[Don Guillett]

How is c2 formatted?

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

C2 was probably entered or pasted as Text. Format C2 as General.
Copy an empty cell. Select C2, Choose Paste Special, selecting the
Values and Add radio buttons.

 

[burke]

thanks, that did it. seems kind of quirky as the
instructions say
"Lookup_value can be a value, a reference, or a text
string". i had tried general, text, number with no luck.

burke

 

[burke]

got it to work. see mcgimpsey's response.

thanks,
burke