XLOOKUP Practice Exercises
XLOOKUP is Excel's modern lookup function — it searches a range for a value and returns a result from another range, like VLOOKUP and INDEX MATCH, but in one formula with none of their limitations. It can look in any direction, handles "not found" results gracefully, and doesn't break when columns get inserted.
Worked example
=XLOOKUP(D2, A2:A10, B2:B10)Finds D2's value in A2:A10, returns the matching value from B2:B10
Add a 4th argument for a custom "not found" message: =XLOOKUP(D2, A2:A10, B2:B10, "Not found").
Why it's an upgrade over VLOOKUP
No column index number to miscount — you point directly at the column you want returned. It can search left of the lookup column, search in reverse, and match approximately or exactly with a simple argument.
One catch: availability
XLOOKUP requires Microsoft 365 or Excel 2021+. If you're on an older perpetual-license version of Excel, or sharing files with people who might be, INDEX MATCH is still the more universally compatible choice.
Practice this for real
Try the "XLOOKUP" exercises
Type the formula into a real spreadsheet and get instant feedback.