VLOOKUP

VLOOKUP (Vertical Lookup) searches for a value in the first column of a range and returns a corresponding value from another column in the same row.

Syntax

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])
  • lookup_value - the value you want to find.
  • table_array - the range that contains the data.
  • col_index_num - the column number (counting from the left of the range) to return.
  • range_lookup - FALSE for an exact match, TRUE for an approximate match.

Example

=VLOOKUP("Noida", A2:C50, 3, FALSE)
' Looks for "Noida" in column A and returns the value from column C in that row

Common Pitfall

Forgetting to set the last argument to FALSE is one of the most common VLOOKUP mistakes - Excel then performs an approximate match, which can silently return the wrong row on unsorted data.

VLOOKUP can only look to the right of the lookup column. For lookups that need to search leftward, functions like INDEX and MATCH are used instead.

Ready to Master Data Science?

Join Uncodemy's Data Science Course and build real, job-ready skills with expert mentors.

Explore Course