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How to use VLOOKUP to create a unique list from table in Excel?

Author Sun Last modified

Here is a table containing class and the student names. However, some values in the list are duplicates. What I want is to have a list of unique names based on “Class A” as below screenshot shown. How can I handle this job by using VLOOKUP function in Excel?
A screenshot of a table showing class names and student names, with duplicate student names listed under 'Class A'

Use VLOOKUP to create a unique list from a given table

Use VLOOKUP to create a unique list from a given table

Here is a somewhat long VLOOKUP formula that can deal with the job.

Select a cell below the criterion which you want to create the unique list based on, type this formula =IFERROR(INDEX(B$1:B$13, MATCH(0, COUNTIF(D$1:D1, IF(A$1:A$13=D$1,B$1:B$13,D$1)), 0)),""), press Shift + Ctrl + Enter keys to get the correct value, and then drag fill handle down until blank cell appears. See screenshot:
A screenshot showing the result of using the VLOOKUP formula to create a unique list of student names under 'Class A'

Note: In the formula, B$1:B$13 is the column you will lookup values from, A$1:A$13 is the column you will lookup value based on, D$1 is the cell with the specified criteria.

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