{"id":296,"date":"2025-07-15T13:34:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T13:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/2021\/02\/12\/lookup\/"},"modified":"2021-02-13T11:35:05","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T11:35:05","slug":"lookup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/lookup\/","title":{"rendered":"LOOKUP"},"content":{"rendered":"

The LOOKUP function is incredibly useful for finding specific values within a cell range in Excel or Google Sheets. It is primarily used to locate a value in a single row or column and then return a corresponding value from the same position in a second row or column.<\/p>\n

Basic Syntax<\/h2>\n

The basic syntax for the LOOKUP function is as follows:<\/p>\n

LOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_vector, result_vector)<\/code><\/pre>\n
    \n
  • lookup_value<\/code>: The value you are searching for within the lookup_vector.<\/li>\n
  • lookup_vector<\/code>: The range of cells containing the target value.<\/li>\n
  • result_vector<\/code>: The range of cells from which the corresponding result is pulled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Example 1: Using LOOKUP for Exact Match<\/h2>\n
    Consider a scenario where you have a list of student names in column A and their respective scores in column B. You need to find the score for a specific student named ‘John’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Student<\/th>\nScore<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    Anna<\/td>\n85<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    John<\/td>\n92<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Mary<\/td>\n88<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
    To find John’s score, you can use the following formula in Excel or Google Sheets:<\/p>\n
    =LOOKUP(\"John\", A2:A4, B2:B4)<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This formula searches for “John” within the range A2:A4 and returns the score from the corresponding position in the range B2:B4, which is 92 in this case.<\/p>\n
    Example 2: Using LOOKUP for Approximate Match<\/h2>\n
    The LOOKUP function can also handle approximate matches if the lookup_vector is sorted in ascending order. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Grade<\/th>\nLetter<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    60<\/td>\nD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    70<\/td>\nC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    80<\/td>\nB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    90<\/td>\nA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
    To find the letter grade for a score of 75, you would use the formula:<\/p>\n
    =LOOKUP(75, A2:A5, B2:B5)<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This returns ‘C’ because 75 is the highest score in the range A2:A5 that does not exceed 75.<\/p>\n
    By mastering the LOOKUP function in Excel or Google Sheets, you can efficiently search for and retrieve specific values from your spreadsheets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Looks up values in a vector or array<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lookup-and-reference"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nExcel LOOKUP Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what the Excel LOOKUP function does. 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