Summary
VLOOKUP is an Excel function to lookup and retrieve data from a specific column in table. VLOOKUP supports approximate and exact matching, and wildcards (* ?) for partial matches. The “V” stands for “vertical”. Lookup values must appear in the first column of the table, with lookup columns to the right.
Purpose
Lookup a value in a table by matching on the first column
Return value
The matched value from a table.
Syntax
=VLOOKUP (value, table, col_index, [range_lookup])
Arguments
- value – The value to look for in the first column of a table.
- table – The table from which to retrieve a value.
- col_index – The column in the table from which to retrieve a value.
- range_lookup – [optional] TRUE = approximate match (default). FALSE = exact match.
Usage notes
VLOOKUP is designed to retrieve data in a table organized into vertical rows, where each row represents a new record. The “V” in VLOOKUP stands for vertical:
