Excel’s XLOOKUP vs. VLOOKUP: What’s Better?

If you’ve been using Excel for a while, you’re probably familiar with VLOOKUP, one of the most widely used functions for finding values in a table. But did you know that XLOOKUP, introduced in Excel 365 and Excel 2021, is a game-changer? XLOOKUP eliminates many of VLOOKUP’s limitations, making it the superior choice for most lookup tasks. In this guide, we’ll compare XLOOKUP vs. VLOOKUP, highlight their differences, and help you decide which one to use.

What is VLOOKUP?

VLOOKUP (Vertical Lookup) searches for a value in the first column of a table and returns a value from a specified column.

Syntax:

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

• lookup_value – The value you want to find.
• table_array – The range containing your data.
• col_index_num – The column number (starting from 1) that contains the result.
• range_lookup – TRUE (approximate match) or FALSE (exact match).

Example:

If you have this table:

To find Sarah’s age, you use:

=VLOOKUP(102, A2:C4, 3, FALSE)

💡 Result: 30

What is XLOOKUP?

XLOOKUP is a more powerful and flexible function that replaces VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and even some INDEX-MATCH formulas.

Syntax:

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array, [if_not_found], [match_mode], [search_mode])

• lookup_value – The value to search for.
• lookup_array – The column (or row) to search in.
• return_array – The column (or row) to return data from.
• if_not_found (optional) – A custom message if no match is found.
• match_mode (optional) – Controls exact or approximate matches.
• search_mode (optional) – Defines search direction (first-to-last or last-to-first).

Example:

=XLOOKUP(102, A2:A4, C2:C4, "Not Found")

💡 Result: 30

XLOOKUP vs. VLOOKUP: Key Differences

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