INDEX returns the value at a position; MATCH finds that position. Together they look up values left or right of the key, without VLOOKUP's column-count limitation.
Do it with AI insteadSet the return column with INDEX
Start with =INDEX(return_column, ...).
Find the row with MATCH
Use MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_column, 0) for an exact match position.
Combine them
Nest MATCH inside INDEX as the row number.
=INDEX(D:D, MATCH(A2, B:B, 0))It can look left, doesn't break when columns are inserted, and is faster on big sheets. XLOOKUP now covers most of these too.