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Would anyone be willing to teach me vlookup?
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Honestly? Stop using formulas to link to external workbooks.
Use power query and then reference from a data model. It has the added benefit of allowing you when to refresh.
This is right. I unknowingly did it because both the were open many years ago. So to make it work you will have to often have both the files open.
It could be the file reference. Does your formula look like either one of these?
=VLOOKUP(A2, 'C:\Users\user\Documents\[extzips.xlsb]Sheet1'!$A:$B, 2, FALSE)
=INDEX('C:\Users\user\Documents\[extzips.xlsb]Sheet1'!$A:$A, MATCH(B2, 'C:\Users\user\Documents\[extzips.xlsb]Sheet1'!$B:$B, 0))
Or
VLOOKUP(A2, '[extzips.xlsb]Sheet1'!$A:$B, 2, FALSE)
=INDEX([extzips.xlsb]Sheet1!$A:$A, MATCH(B2, [extzips.xlsb]Sheet1!$B:$B, 0))
Giving the ‘M: drive’ or local reference is the right way to go, but I don’t believe VLookup was meant for closed workbooks. The local path can make it work sometimes. I know you’re getting mixed result, but it might be worth exploring, as others have suggested, XLookup, or, one of my favorites INDEX MATCH.
Otherwise, I think you’re fighting the max capabilities of the formula.
XLOOKUP maybe more robust for your needs.
Switch to xlookup and stop connecting with external workbooks