Everything You Need To Know About VLOOKUP | Google Sheets (FULL TUTORIAL), by Tech All Day on YouTube. 8 min 36 s.
- Video length
- 8 min 36 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Open your spreadsheet and click the cell where the answer should appear, such as the cell next to the ID you want to look up.
Type =VLOOKUP( to start the formula. Google Sheets will show a hint with the four parts it expects.
Enter the search key, which is the value to match, such as a product ID or a name. Type a comma after it.
Select the table range, for example A2:D100. The column holding the search key must be the leftmost column of this range. Add a comma.
Type the column number to return, counting the first column of your range as 1. For a range of A2:D100, column 3 returns C. Add a comma.
Type FALSE for an exact match, close the bracket and press Enter. The matched value now appears in your cell.
Drag the small square at the bottom right of the cell to copy the formula down. Make the range absolute first, like $A$2:$D$100, so it does not shift.
Wrap the formula in IFERROR to hide errors, for example =IFERROR(VLOOKUP(...),"Not found"). This keeps your sheet readable.
Tips and common mistakes
Always use FALSE or 0 as the last argument, since the default TRUE gives approximate matches and wrong answers.
VLOOKUP only looks to the right, so move the key column to the left of the results or use INDEX and MATCH instead.
Extra spaces or numbers stored as text cause #N/A errors, so check formatting with TRIM or by retyping the key.
Questions
Why does my VLOOKUP return #N/A?
The search key was not found in the first column of your range. Check for trailing spaces, text stored as numbers, or a range that does not include the right rows.
Can VLOOKUP look up values to the left?
No. It only returns columns to the right of the search key. Use INDEX and MATCH or XLOOKUP when the result sits to the left.
What does the last argument do?
FALSE means exact match and TRUE means approximate match on sorted data. Use FALSE for names, IDs and codes to avoid wrong results.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
