VLOOKUP vs. XLOOKUP: Which One Should You Use?

If you’ve ever worked with spreadsheets, you’ve probably used VLOOKUP. It’s an oldie but goodie. But there’s a newer, cooler version—XLOOKUP.

So, what’s the difference, and why should you care? Let’s break it down!

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The Analogy: Searching for Information in a Database

Imagine you’re using a database to find information. You need to search for an employee’s name and pull up details like their salary, department, or hire date.

Here’s how VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP compare:

• VLOOKUP: It’s like searching for a name in the first column of your list. Once you find it, you can grab related details like salary or department—but only if the name is in the first column.

• XLOOKUP: With XLOOKUP, you can search for the name anywhere in the list—whether it’s in the first column, middle, or last—and pull up any details. It’s far more flexible!

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VLOOKUP: The Classic, But Limited ⏳

VLOOKUP stands for Vertical Lookup. It works like this:

1. You search for something (e.g., an employee’s name).

2. You find it in the first column (e.g., Name).

3. You pull related info (e.g., Salary, Department) from another column.

The Catch:

• VLOOKUP only works if the value you’re searching for (like a name) is in the first column.

• If your data isn’t organized this way, you’re out of luck.

Example:

Let’s say you have this list:

• Employee Name: John, Sarah, Mike

• Salary: $50,000, $60,000, $70,000

• Department: HR, Marketing, Finance

With VLOOKUP, you can search for “John” in the Employee Name column, and it will return $50,000 (his salary). But if “John” isn’t in the first column, VLOOKUP won’t work.

Formula:

=VLOOKUP("John", A2:C4, 2, FALSE)

Here:

• "John" is the value you’re searching for.

• A2:C4 is the range of data.

• 2 indicates the column number to return the result from (Salary).

• FALSE specifies an exact match.

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XLOOKUP: The New, More Flexible Version 💥

XLOOKUP is VLOOKUP’s modern upgrade. It’s faster, more flexible, and lets you search for values anywhere in your list—not just the first column.

Example:

Let’s say your data looks like this:

• Salary: $50,000, $60,000, $70,000

• Employee Name: John, Sarah, Mike

• Department: HR, Marketing, Finance

With XLOOKUP, you can search for “John” in the Employee Name column (even if it’s not the first column) and pull his salary ($50,000) or department (HR) immediately.

Formula:

=XLOOKUP("John", B2:B4, A2:A4)

Here:

• "John" is the value you’re searching for.

• B2:B4 is the lookup range (Employee Name).

• A2:A4 is the return range (Salary).

Adding Error Handling in XLOOKUP 🔄

One of the best features of XLOOKUP is its built-in error handling. Unlike VLOOKUP, where you’d need to wrap the formula in IFERROR, XLOOKUP lets you specify what to display if the lookup value isn’t found.

For example, if “John” isn’t in your list, you can return a custom message like “Employee Not Found.”

Formula with error handling:

=XLOOKUP("John", B2:B4, A2:A4, "Employee Not Found")

Here:

• "Employee Not Found" is the value to return if “John” doesn’t exist in the lookup range.

If you don’t include this argument, XLOOKUP will return an #N/A error by default.

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Final Thought

For modern spreadsheets, XLOOKUP is the way to go. It’s more powerful, easier to use, and handles complex data effortlessly. Once you try it, you’ll wonder why you ever used VLOOKUP!