If you have known information on your spreadsheet, you can use VLOOKUP to search for related information by row. For example, if you want to buy an orange, you can use VLOOKUP to search for the price.

VLOOKUP formula example

VLOOKUP for BigQuery

Vertical lookup. Returns the values in a data column at the position where a match was found in the search column.

Sample Usage

VLOOKUP("Apple",table_name!fruit,table_name!price)

Syntax

VLOOKUP(search_key, range,index, is_sorted)

  • search_key: The value to search for in the search column.
  • search_column: The data column to consider for the search.
  • result_column: The data column to consider for the result.
  • is_sorted: [OPTIONAL] The manner in which to find a match for the search_key.
    • FALSE: For an exact match, this is recommended.
    • TRUE: For an approximate match, this is the default if is_sorted is unspecified.
      Tip: Before you use an approximate match, sort your search key in ascending order. Otherwise, you may likely get a wrong return value. Learn why you may encounter a wrong return value.

Tip: For more flexible database queries in BigQuery, use XLOOKUP.

Syntax

=VLOOKUP(search_key, range, index, [is_sorted])

Inputs

  1. search_key: The value to search for in the first column of the range.
  2. range: The upper and lower values to consider for the search.
  3. index: The index of the column with the return value of the range. The index must be a positive integer.
  4. is_sorted: Optional input. Choose an option:
    • FALSE = Exact match. This is recommended.
    • TRUE = Approximate match. This is the default if is_sorted is unspecified.
      Important: Before you use an approximate match, sort your search key in ascending order. Otherwise, you may likely get a wrong return value. Learn why you may encounter a wrong return value.

Return value

The first matched value from the selected range.

Technical details:

Example:

=VLOOKUP(G9, B4:D8, 3, FALSE)

=VLOOKUP("Apple", B4:D8, 3, TRUE)

Inputs Description
search_key

This is the value you search in the first column of the range. If you expect a non-error value, the search key must be in the first column of the range. Cell reference is also supported.

To do a simple check: If your search_key is located at B3, then your range should start with column B.
range

This is the range where:

  • The function searches for the specified search key in its first column.
  • VLOOKUP returns the value from the column specified by index. You can also use a named range.

To return a non-error value, your search key must be in the first column of the range.

To do a simple check: If your search_key is located at B3, then your range should start with column B.
index

Also called “Column number.” This is the index of the column in the range that contains the return value.

  • The smallest possible index is 1.
  • The largest possible index is the maximum number of columns in that range.

After you set up the range, VLOOKUP only looks to the search key column, when index = 1 , or columns that are further right.

Tip: When you use VLOOKUP, imagine that the columns of the range are numbered from left to right and start with 1.
is_sorted

This is an optional input. The two available choices are TRUE and FALSE.

  • If is_sorted is TRUE, then VLOOKUP uses approximate match.
    Important: Before you use an approximate match, sort your search key in ascending order. Otherwise, you may get an unexpected value returned. Learn why you may encounter a wrong return value.

  • If is_sorted is FALSE, then VLOOKUP uses exact match.

  • If is_sorted is not specified, it is TRUE by default.

We strongly recommend you:

  • Use FALSE for is_sorted due to its consistent behavior whether or not the search key column is sorted.
  • Always specify is_sorted for better readability, even though the input is optional.
Outputs Description
Return value

This is the value that VLOOKUP returns based on your inputs. There’s only one return value from each VLOOKUP function.

  • If there are multiple search key values that match, the value in the return value column whose associated search key is first matched in the search key column is returned.
  • If #N/A is returned, a value isn’t found.

If you encounter an expected value or error like #N/A or #VALUE!, begin to troubleshoot. If you want to replace #N/A with another value, learn more about how to use IFNA() on VLOOKUP().

Basic VLOOKUP examples:

VLOOKUP on different search keys

Use VLOOKUP to find the price of an Orange and Apple.

VLOOKUP on different search keys example

Explanation:

When you use VLOOKUP, you can use different search keys such as "Apple" and "Orange."

To return a non-error value, these search keys must be in the first column of the range. If you don’t want to fill a value for search keys, you can also use a cell reference, for example "G9."

search_key is "Orange"

=VLOOKUP("Orange", B4:D8, 3, FALSE)

Return value = $1.01
search_key is "Apple"

=VLOOKUP("Apple", B4:D8, 3, FALSE)

Return value = $1.50
search_key that uses cell reference of "Apple" in G9

=VLOOKUP(G9, B4:D8, 3, FALSE)

Return value = $1.50

VLOOKUP on different column indexes

Use VLOOKUP to find the quantity of Oranges in the second index column.

VLOOKUP on different column indexes example

Explanation:

When you use VLOOKUP, imagine that the columns of the range are numbered from left to right and start from 1. To find the target information, you must specify its column index. For example, column 2 for quantity.

Index = 2

Find the quantity of oranges, which is the second column of the range.

=VLOOKUP(G3, B4:D8, 2, FALSE)

Return value = 5

VLOOKUP exact match or approximate match

  • Use VLOOKUP exact match to find an exact ID.
  • Use VLOOKUP approximate match to find the approximate ID.

VLOOKUP exact match or approximate match example

Explanation:

Use an approximate match or is_sorted = TRUE when you search for a best match, but not an exact match.

If you want to search ID = 102, which doesn’t exist in the table, an approximate match takes one step back to give you ID = 101 as the result. This is because in the search key column, 101 is the closest value that is also less than 102.

An approximate match searches down the search key column until it finds a value that is larger than your search key. Then it stops on the row before the larger value and returns the value from the return value column on that row. That means if your search key column is not sorted in ascending order, you most likely get a wrong return value.

Important: Before you use an approximate match, sort your search key in ascending order to return the correct value. Otherwise, you may get an unexpected value returned.

When you search for the exact match, such as is_sorted = FALSE, it returns an exact match. For example, the fruit name for ID = 103 is "Banana." If there’s no exact match, you get a #N/A error. Due to its more predictable behavior, we recommend you use exact match.

Exact match

=VLOOKUP(G6, A4:D8, 2, FALSE)

Return value = "Apple"
Approximate match

=VLOOKUP(G3, A4:D8, 2, TRUE)

OR

=VLOOKUP(G3, A4:D8, 2)

Return value = "Banana"

Common VLOOKUP applications

Replace error value from VLOOKUP

You may want to replace an error value returned by VLOOKUP when your search key doesn’t exist. In this case, if you don’t want #N/A, you can use IFNA() functions to replace #N/A. Learn more about IFNA().

Replace error value from VLOOKUP example

Originally, VLOOKUP returns #N/A because the search key “Pencil” does not exist in the “Fruit” column.

IFNA() replaces #N/A error with the second input specified in the function. In our case, it’s “NOT FOUND.”

=IFNA(VLOOKUP(G3, B4:D8, 3, FALSE),"NOT FOUND")

Return value = “NOT FOUND”

Tip: If you want to replace other errors such as #REF!, learn more about IFERROR().

VLOOKUP with multiple criteria

VLOOKUP can’t be directly applied on multiple criteria. Instead, create a new helper column to directly apply VLOOKUP on multiple criteria to combine multiple existing columns.

VLOOKUP with multiple criteria example

1. You can create a Helper column if you use "&" to combine First Name and Last Name. =C4&D4 and drag it down from B4 to B8 gives you the Helper column.
2. Use cell reference B7, JohnLee, as the search key.

=VLOOKUP(B7, B4:E8, 4, FALSE)

Return value = "Support"

VLOOKUP with wildcard or partial matches

In VLOOKUP, you can also use wildcards or partial matches. You can use these wildcard characters:

  • A question mark "?" matches any single character.
  • An asterisk "*" matches any sequence of characters.

To use wildcards in VLOOKUP, you must use an exact match: "is_sorted = FALSE".

VLOOKUP with wildcard example

"St*" is used to match anything that starts with "St" regardless of the number of characters, such as "Steve", "St1", "Stock", or "Steeeeeeve".

=VLOOKUP("St*", B4:D8, 3, FALSE)

Return value = "Marketing"

Troubleshoot errors & best practices:

Wrong return value

  • Returns an unexpected value: If you set is_sorted as TRUE, but your first column in the range isn’t sorted numerically or alphabetically in ascending order, then change is_sorted to FALSE.

  • VLOOKUP gives the first match: VLOOKUP only returns the first match. If you have multiple matched search keys, a value is returned, but it may not be the expected value.
  • Unclean data: Sometimes, values with spaces that trail and lead may seem similar but VLOOKUP treats them differently. For example, the following are different to VLOOKUP:
    • " Apple"
    • "Apple "
    • "Apple"

To get your expected results, remove spaces before you use VLOOKUP.

To learn more, check out our best practice section.

#N/A

  • If approximate or is_sorted = TRUE is used and if the search key in VLOOKUP is smaller than the smallest value in the first column, then VLOOKUP returns #N/A.
  • If exact match or is_sorted = FALSE is used, then the exact match of the search key in VLOOKUP isn’t found in the first column. If you don’t want #N/A when the search key isn’t found in the first column, you can use the function IFNA().

#REF!

You might mistakenly specify a range with a number bigger than the maximum number of columns of the range. To avoid this, make sure you:

  • Count the columns from the selected range, not the entire table.
  • Start to count from 1 instead of 0.

#VALUE!

If you get #VALUE! error, you might have:

  • Incorrectly input the text or the column name for the index.
  • Entered a number smaller than 1 for the index. The index must be at least equal to 1 and smaller than the maximum number of columns of the range. VLOOKUP can only search in the search key column, when index = 1, or columns that are further right.

Important: index only accepts a number.

#NAME?

  • You might have missed a quote in the search key when your search_key is text data.

Best practices

To do Reason
Use absolute references for range

You should use:

  • Absolute reference for VLOOKUP range
  • VLOOKUP(G3, $B$3:$D$7, 3, FALSE)

You should not use:

  • VLOOKUP(G3, B3:D7, 3, FALSE)

This prevents unpredictable changes in the range when it’s copied or dragged down.
Sort the first column in ascending order when you use an approximate match, such as is_sorted = TRUE. If you use an approximate match or is_sorted = TRUE, you must sort the first column in ascending order. Otherwise, you most likely get a wrong return value. Learn more on how to sort.
Clean your data before you use VLOOKUP

Before you use VLOOKUP, remember to clean your data. Unclean data may cause VLOOKUP to return an unpredictable value. Here are some common pitfalls of unclean data:

  • Spaces that lead: " apple"
  • Spaces that trail: "apple "
  • Blanks or spaces: "" and " " aren’t equivalent

To trim white space that leads and trails, you can use Data and then Data cleanup and then Trim whitespace.
Don't store number or date values as text

Make sure your date or number values in the first column of your VLOOKUP range, such as the search key column, aren’t stored as text values. You may get an unexpected return value.

  1. On the top of Sheets, select your search key column.
  2. Tap Format Menu and then Number.
  3. Choose an option depending on your desired data type:
    • Date
    • Number