Look up a value in the first column of a range and return a value from another column in the same row.
VLOOKUP works the same in Google Sheets. For complex lookups, Sheets also offers QUERY, and XLOOKUP is available since 2022.
VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])VLOOKUP (Vertical Lookup) searches for a key in the leftmost column of a table and returns a value from a column you specify. Set the fourth argument to FALSE for an exact match — the most common and reliable mode. For new workbooks, prefer XLOOKUP, which removes VLOOKUP's left-to-right limitation.
=VLOOKUP("A102", A2:C100, 3, FALSE)Result: $1,250
Finds product A102 in column A and returns its price from column C.
=VLOOKUP(E2, Products!A:D, 2, FALSE)Result: Wireless Mouse
Looks up the ID in cell E2 against another sheet and returns the product name.
The lookup value wasn't found in the first column. Check for extra spaces, a number-stored-as-text mismatch, or a missing FALSE for exact match. Wrap with IFERROR to show a friendly message.
No — it only returns columns to the right of the key. Use INDEX/MATCH or XLOOKUP to return values to the left.