We all know the well-known VLOOKUP() function that helps us combine data from different tables. However, this function has one significant drawback - it cannot combine similar values, that is, if a mistake is made in a word, then there will be no match.
Let's imagine that we have two lists. Both have approximately the same elements, but they may be written slightly differently. The task is to find for each element in the first list the most similar element from the second list, that is, to implement the search for the closest most similar text.
The FUZZYLOOKUP function selects values with the least number of operations needed to convert one text to another.
=FUZZYLOOKUP(LookupValue; LookupArray)
The FUZZYLOOKUP() function is easy to use. You just need to specify the value we are looking for and the range to search for, which contains approximate values, and Excel will automatically find and return the required result:
=FUZZYLOOKUP("Adobe Systems Inc"; {Lookup Array})
We will have the following result:
This example uses the following values:
You can use the FUZZYLOOKUP() function by installing a free extension YouLibreCalc.xlam .
After that, this function will be available in all files that will be opened in Excel.