# How to look up a value to the left in Excel

Use XLOOKUP, which can return any column: =XLOOKUP(value, lookup_column, result_column). In older versions use INDEX and MATCH.

**Excel:** `=XLOOKUP(G1,D2:D7,A2:A7)` (Excel 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365)

**Google Sheets:** the same formula works.

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Employee ID | Name | Department | Email |  | Email | noor.haddad@corp.example |
| E-2201 | Lena Park | Finance | lena.park@corp.example |  | Employee ID |  |
| E-2202 | Omar Ruiz | Sales | omar.ruiz@corp.example |  |  |  |
| E-2203 | Noor Haddad | IT | noor.haddad@corp.example |  |  |  |
| E-2204 | Tom Becker | Sales | tom.becker@corp.example |  |  |  |
| E-2205 | Priya Shah | Marketing | priya.shah@corp.example |  |  |  |
| E-2206 | Ines Lopez | Finance | ines.lopez@corp.example |  |  |  |

Formula in G2: `=XLOOKUP(G1,D2:D7,A2:A7)`

Result: E-2203

## How it works

XLOOKUP takes the column to search and the column to return as separate ranges, so the result can sit to the left of the search column. Here it finds the email in `D2:D7` and returns the ID from the same row of `A2:A7`.

## Other ways

- `=INDEX(A2:A7,MATCH(G1,D2:D7,0))`: Works in every Excel version: MATCH finds the row number, INDEX returns that row from column A.

## Common mistakes

- VLOOKUP can't do this: it only returns columns to the right of the first column of its table.
- The two ranges must have the same number of rows, or XLOOKUP returns #VALUE!.
- MATCH needs 0 as its third argument for an exact match.

## Questions

**Is INDEX/MATCH faster than XLOOKUP?**

On ordinary sheets you won't notice a difference. Choose XLOOKUP for readability if everyone has Excel 2021 or later.

**How do I return several columns at once?**

Give XLOOKUP a wider return range, like `=XLOOKUP(G1,D2:D7,A2:C7)`; the result spills across.

Every formula and result on this page was checked by running it in the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine on 2026-10-29.

Source: https://spreadsheetpractice.com/formulas/lookup-value-to-the-left