In the previous articles, we have talked about keeping background color when vlookup values in Excel. Here in this article, we are going to introduce a method of copying all cell formatting of the resulting cell when doing Vlookup in Excel. Please do as follows.
Copy source formatting when using Vlookup in Excel with a User-defined function
Supposing you have a table as below screenshot shown. Now you need to check if a specified value (in column E) is in column A and return corresponding value with formatting in column C. Please do as follows to achieve it.
1. In the worksheet contains the value you want to vlookup, right-click the sheet tab and select View Code from the context menu. See screenshot:
2. In the opening Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, please copy below VBA code into the Code window.
VBA code 1: Vlookup and return value with formatting
Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
'Update by Extendoffice 20211203
Dim I As Long
Dim xKeys As Long
Dim xDicStr As String
On Error Resume Next
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Application.CutCopyMode = False
xKeys = UBound(xDic.Keys)
If xKeys >= 0 Then
For I = 0 To UBound(xDic.Keys)
xDicStr = xDic.Items(I)
If xDicStr <> "" Then
Set xRg = Application.Range(xDicStr)
xRg.Copy
Range(xDic.Keys(I)).PasteSpecial xlPasteFormats
Else
Range(xDic.Keys(I)).Interior.Color = xlNone
End If
Next
Set xDic = Nothing
End If
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
Application.CutCopyMode = True
End Sub
3. Then click Insert > Module, and copy the below VBA code 2 into the Module window.
VBA code 2: Vlookup and return value with formatting
Public xDic As New Dictionary
'Update by Extendoffice 20211203
Function LookupKeepFormat(ByRef FndValue, ByRef LookupRng As Range, ByRef xCol As Long)
Dim xFindCell As Range
On Error Resume Next
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Set xFindCell = LookupRng.Find(FndValue, , xlValues, xlWhole)
If xFindCell Is Nothing Then
LookupKeepFormat = " "
xDic.Add Application.Caller.Address, " "
Else
LookupKeepFormat = xFindCell.Offset(0, xCol - 1).Value
xDic.Add Application.Caller.Address, xFindCell.Offset(0, xCol - 1).Address(External:=True)
End If
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Function4. Click Tools > References. Then check the Microsoft Script Runtime box in the References – VBAProject dialog box. See screenshot:
5. Press the Alt + Q keys to exit the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
6. Select a blank cell adjacent to the lookup value, and then enter formula =LookupKeepFormat(E2,$A$1:$C$8,3) into the Formula Bar, and then press the Enter key.
Note: In the formula, E2 contains the value you will lookup, $A$1:$C$8 is the table range, and number 3 means that the corresponding value you will return locates in the third column of the table. Please change them as you need.
7. Keep selecting the first result cell, and then drag the Fill Handle down to get all results along with their formatting as below screenshot showed.
