Are there such things as variables within an Excel formula

Question

I hate repeating functions  particularly in Excel formulas   Is there any way that I can avoid something like    IF  VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0   gt  10  VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0  - 10  VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0       The above is just a simple example of the problem  and not a particular formula that I m working with

User · Answer

Two options    VLOOKUP function in its own cell   VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0   in say  C1   then formula referencing C1   IF  C1  gt  10  C1 - 10  C1   create a UDF     Function MyFunc a1  a2  a3  a4      Dim v as Variant     v   Application WorksheetFunction VLookup a1  a2  a3  a4      If v   10 Then         MyFunc   v - 10     Else         MyFunc   v     End If End Function

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You could store intermediate values in a cell or column  which you could hide if you choose   C1    VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0  D1    IF C1  gt  10  C1 - 10  C1

User · Answer

Not related to variables  your example will also be solved by MOD    Mod VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0  10

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There isn t a way to define a variable in the formula bar of Excel   As a workaround you could place the function in another cell  optionally  hiding the contents or placing it in a separate sheet    Otherwise you could create a VBA function

User · Answer

Yes  But not directly   Simpler way   You could post Vlookup   in one cell and use its address in where required  - This is perhaps the only direct way of using variables in Excel    OR   You could define Vlookup reference -10 as a wrapper function from within VBE Macros  Press Alt f12 and use that function

User · Answer

I know it s a little off-topic  but following up with the solution presented by Jonas B  hmer  actually I think that MOD is the best solution to your example   If your intention was to limit the result to one digit  MOD is the best approach to achieve it   ie  Let s suppose that VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0  returns 23  Your IF formula would simply make this calculation  23 - 10 and return 13 as the result   On the other hand  MOD VLOOKUP A1  B B  1  0   10  would divide 23 by 10 and show the remainder  3   Back to the main topic  when I need to use a formula that repeats some part  I usually put it on another cell and then hide it as some people already suggested

User · Answer

You could define a name for the VLOOKUP part of the formula    Highlight the cell that contains this formula On the Insert menu  go Name  and click Define Enter a name for your variable  e g   Value   In the Refers To box  enter your VLOOKUP formula   VLOOKUP A1 B B  1  0  Click Add  and close the dialog In your original formula  replace the VLOOKUP parts with the name you just defined   IF  Value  gt  10  Value - 10  Value     Step  1  is important here  I guess on the second row  you want Excel to use VLOOKUP A2 B B  1  0   the third row VLOOKUP A3 B B  1  0   etc  Step  4  achieves this by using relative references  A1 and B B   not absolute references   A 1 and  B  B       Note           For newer Excel versions with the ribbon  go to Formulas ribbon -  Define Name  It s the same after that  Also  to use your name  you can do  Use in Formula   right under Define Name  while editing the formula  or else start typing it  and Excel will suggest the name  credits   Michael Rusch    Shortened steps  1  Right click a cell and click Define name    2  Enter a name and the formula which you want to associate with that name local variable 3  Use variable  credits  Jens Bodal

User · Answer

Defining a NAME containing the lookup is a neat solution  HOWEVER  it always seems to store the sheet name with the cell reference  However  I think if you delete the sheet name in the    quotes but leave the      it may work

User · Answer

Now you can use the function LET to declare variables within Excel formulas  This function is available since Jun 2020 for Microsoft 365  users  Given your example  the formula will be   LET MyFunc VLOOKUP A1 B B 1 0   IF MyFunc  gt  10  MyFunc - 10  MyFunc      The 1st argument is the variable name and the 2nd argument is the function or range  You can add more pairs of arguments variable  function range  After adding the variables  the last argument will be your formula of interest -- calling the variables you just created  For more information  please access the Microsoft webpage here

[excel] Are there such things as variables within an Excel formula?

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