MS Excel https://blog.azccare.com Tue, 25 Nov 2025 07:58:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://blog.azccare.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/cropped-AZ_LOGO-TSP-32x32.png MS Excel https://blog.azccare.com 32 32 Excel Lookup formulas https://blog.azccare.com/excel-lookup-formulas/ Tue, 25 Nov 2025 07:58:50 +0000 https://blog.azccare.com/?p=314 πŸ†š Summary of Differences
Feature VLOOKUP HLOOKUP XLOOKUP
Lookup direction Down (vertical) Across (horizontal) Any direction
Lookup location must be First column First row Anywhere
Can search left? ❌ No ❌ No βœ” Yes
Can return multiple columns? ❌ ❌ βœ”
Required table format Vertical only Horizontal only Any
Allows reverse search ❌ ❌ βœ”
Built-in error handling ❌ ❌ βœ” [if_not_found]
Performance Moderate Moderate Fast
Replaced by? XLOOKUP XLOOKUP Modern standard

🎯 Use Cases

When to use VLOOKUP

  • When working with older Excel versions (<2019).
  • Simple vertical lookups.

When to use HLOOKUP

  • Rare: only when data is arranged in row format (horizontal).

When to use XLOOKUP

  • Alwaysβ€”if using Excel 365 or 2021.
  • Large datasets, flexible lookups, error handling.
  • When you need left lookup or return multiple results.

Using XLOOKUP (Modern Replacement for V & H Lookup)

Introduced in Excel 365 & Excel 2021.

βœ” What it does

Searches any column or row, returns results from any direction, and supports default exact match.

βœ” Orientation

Works both vertically and horizontally.

βœ” Syntax

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

βœ” Advantages

  • Can look left, right, up, or down.
  • No column/row number needed.
  • Handles errors with [if_not_found].
  • Faster and more robust.
  • Can return multiple columns at once.
  • Supports approx, exact, wildcard, and reverse search.
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