Lookup Table Excel

What this does

VLOOKUP finds a value in the first column of a table and returns a value from a column to its right on the same row — the classic way to pull a price from a product code or a name from an ID. The fourth argument is the one that bites: FALSE (or 0) demands an exact match, which is almost always what you want; TRUE assumes the first column is sorted and does an approximate match. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. Treat “lookup table excel” as a small repeatable workflow rather than a one-off click you hope to remember next time. Use a small test block before the live file, so any surprise in the affected cells shows up while it is still harmless. When a formula is involved, keep the inputs labelled beside it, reference cells instead of typing values, and apply number formatting only after the result checks out. That turns a layout choice that keeps the sheet readable and sortable into a method you can reuse, explain, and defend when the workbook leaves your screen.

A worked example

With product codes in column A and prices in column B, =VLOOKUP("SKU-204", A2:B100, 2, FALSE) returns the price next to SKU-204. The 2 means “second column of the range”. If the code is not found you get #N/A — wrap it as =IFERROR(VLOOKUP(...), "not found") to show a friendly message instead. Lookups are how separate tables talk to each other — joining orders to customers, codes to descriptions, IDs to prices. Mastering VLOOKUP (and its successor XLOOKUP) turns a pile of sheets into a connected model. If there is any chance you will reuse this, drop it into a small template tab right now: a labelled input area on the left and the formula beside it, checked once against the tool above. Next time the same question comes up, the answer is a single paste away instead of a rebuild from memory.

In Google Sheets

Google Sheets handles this almost identically to Excel. The formula syntax above is the same, and the menu lives under a slightly different label rather than a ribbon tab. Use the platform toggle at the top of the page to switch every keyboard shortcut between Windows and Mac, and expect at most cosmetic differences in naming. Nothing on this page is behind a login or a download: the exact answer is at the top, and the detail below it is there for when you need it. That is the whole promise here — the answer first, and just enough context to make it stick. Here is the takeaway for “lookup table excel”: copy the answer if you are busy, but if you have a spare few minutes, rebuild the example in Excel yourself with the tool above open beside it. That single pass — type it, run it, watch the result move when you change an input — is what turns a formula you found into a technique you trust. Keep your inputs labelled and referenced, never hard-coded, and the same sheet stays correct and auditable as it grows. Done that way, you will not need to look this up again, and you will be the person others ask.

Common mistakes

• Omitting FALSE, so VLOOKUP returns a wrong approximate match on unsorted data.
• Counting the column number from the sheet rather than from the start of the table range.
• Looking up a value that is not in the leftmost column — VLOOKUP only looks right.
• Breaking the formula by inserting a column inside the table; use XLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH for resilience.

Frequently asked questions