VLOOKUP Excel – Syntax, Examples & Common Errors | ComTools

VLOOKUP Excel reference: formula syntax, exact match, table locking with $, #N/A fixes, and when to switch to XLOOKUP or INDEX+MATCH.

Quick syntax

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, range_lookup). Column index counts from the left of table_array, not the sheet. Lock the table with absolute references ($A$2:$E$100) before filling down.

Common mistakes

Wrong column index; approximate match (TRUE) on unsorted data; lookup column not the leftmost column of the range; duplicate keys returning the first match only.