{"id":482,"date":"2025-07-15T13:34:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T13:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/2021\/02\/12\/vlookup\/"},"modified":"2021-02-13T11:36:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T11:36:58","slug":"vlookup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/functiontranslator.com\/en\/vlookup\/","title":{"rendered":"VLOOKUP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we\u2019ll explore the VLOOKUP function available in both Excel and Google Sheets. VLOOKUP is a robust function that searches for a given value in the first column of a table and returns a value from the same row in a specified column. It\u2019s widely utilized for data retrieval from extensive datasets.<\/p>\n

Basic Syntax<\/h2>\n

The basic syntax of the VLOOKUP function is as follows:<\/p>\n

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])<\/code><\/pre>\n
    \n
  • lookup_value<\/code>: The value you want to find in the first column of the table.<\/li>\n
  • table_array<\/code>: The cell range containing the data, where the first column includes the values to search for.<\/li>\n
  • col_index_num<\/code>: The column number from which to retrieve the value, starting with 1 for the first column, 2 for the second, and so on.<\/li>\n
  • range_lookup<\/code>: This is optional. Use TRUE (or leave it blank) to find the nearest match. Use FALSE for an exact match only.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Example Use Cases<\/h2>\n
    Example 1: Basic Lookup<\/h2>\n
    Consider a table listing products and their corresponding prices. You can use VLOOKUP to quickly determine the price of a specific item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Product<\/th>\nPrice<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    Apple<\/td>\n1.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Orange<\/td>\n0.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Banana<\/td>\n0.50<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
    To find the price of an Orange, the formula would be:<\/p>\n
    =VLOOKUP(\"Orange\", A2:B4, 2, FALSE)<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This will correctly return 0.75 as the price of an Orange.<\/p>\n
    Example 2: Approximate Match<\/h2>\n
    For a table listing sales data, VLOOKUP can determine which sales bracket a particular value falls within when using an approximate match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Sales<\/th>\nCommission<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    100<\/td>\n5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    500<\/td>\n7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    1000<\/td>\n10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
    If the sales value is in cell D2, use the following formula:<\/p>\n
    =VLOOKUP(D2, A2:B4, 2, TRUE)<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This formula will return the appropriate commission rate based on the entered sales amount.<\/p>\n
    The VLOOKUP function is a potent and adaptable tool in Excel and Google Sheets, ideal for data handling and retrieval in large datasets. It’s a time-saver for any data-driven tasks. Happy lookup!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Looks in the first column of an array and moves across the row to return the value of a cell<\/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-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lookup-and-reference"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nExcel VLOOKUP Function \u2013 How It Works, Formula Examples and Syntax<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what the Excel VLOOKUP function does. 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