In this article, learn all about the XLOOKUP Excel function, it’s syntax, parameters and how to use it with real-world xlookup examples.
What is XLOOKUP?
Using XLOOKUP, we can search for an item in a list using the lookup value and return a matching item. For example, you can lookup for salesperson “Jackie” and return their sales amount from the data below using the XLOOKUP function, as depicted above.
It is the newest member of Excel’s lookup function family. You may already know the other members of this group – VLOOKUP, LOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX+MATCH.
How to use XLOOKUP – step by step instructions
Let’s say you have data for salespeople like above and you want to find the Net Sales for “Jackie”. Follow below steps to create the XLOOKUP function in Excel.
- Write =XLOOKUP( in a cell
- For the lookup_value, Type the name of the salesperson in double quotes (ex: “Jackie”)
- Tip: If you have the name of the person in a cell (like G4), you can point to the cell instead of typing the name
- Now for the lookup_array, select the names column of your data.
- and for the return_array, select the net sales column of your data.
- Close the brackets and hit enter.
- Congratulations, you’ve just created your first XLOOKUP formula in Excel.
Here is how the formula and result look in my data:
What if the lookup value is not in the lookup array?
One of the most common scenarios of lookups in Excel is not finding the value you are looking for. Imagine, you are looking for the salesperson “Chandoo”, but he doesn’t exist in the dataset. In this case, XLOOKUP will return #N/A error.
But we can use the 4th parameter of XLOOKUP – if_not_found to set an optional value to display when there is an error.
Here is an example formula with that:
=XLOOKUP("Chandoo", B4:B21, D4:D21, "Not found")How to lookup in the middle with XLOOKUP (INDEX MATCH replacement)?
Let’s say you want to lookup the sales amount of $726 and return the name of the person (in this case, Jessy). Previously, you needed to use the INDEX+MATCH combination for this. But XLOOKUP let’s us specify any range or column for lookup_array portion. so, no more INDEX+MATCH… Yay!
To perform the “net sales” lookup and return the name of the person, we can use the below formula:
=XLOOKUP(G4, G4:G21, G4:G21, "Not found")The above XLOOKUP example assumes that G4 contains the net sales value you want to lookup.
How to lookup higher than / lower than using XLOOKUP? (approximate match)
Say, you want to find out the closest person with the net sales of $1300. In this case, we don’t have anyone with that value in the data. You can still use XLOOKUP to get the approximate matching value, either next higher or lower in the data.
For this we can use the 5th parameter of the XLOOKUP function – match mode.
There are 4 match modes in XLOOKUP.
- 0 or Exact match. This is the default value for XLOOKUP.
- 1 or next larger match. This looks up for the exact or next highest value in the lookup array.
- -1 or next smaller match. This looks up for the exact or next lowest value in the lookup array.
- 2 or wildcard match. This looks up based on a pattern you have mentioned in the lookup value. More on this further down in the article.
To get the next highest matching value:
=XLOOKUP(G4,D4:D21,B4:B21,,1)
Note: 1 refers to next higher value for match mode.The above formula returns “Jonathan” in the sample data, as he has the next highest amount – $1316.
To get the next lowest matching value:
=XLOOKUP(G4,D4:D21,B4:B21,,-1)
Note: 11 refers to next lower value for match mode.This formula returns “John” as he has the next lower value – $1088.
Getting Partial Matches with XLOOKUP (Wildcard / Pattern Matching)
XLOOKUP also allows for a powerful and elegant pattern matching in your data. Let’s say you want to find the net sales for the person whose name begins with the letters Jam. In this case, we can use the match mode 2 (wild card) along with the wildcard operators * (asterisk) and ? (question mark) to create our XLOOKUP.
To find the net sales of the person whose name begins with Jam,
- Use the formula =XLOOKUP(H4&”*”,B4:B21,D4:D21,”No such person”,2)
- Here H4 contains the first few letters of the name, i.e. Jam
- The lookup value is H4 & “*”. This tells XLOOKUP that we want the name to begin with the value of H4 (Jam) and then there can be any number of characters.
- Rest of the XLOOKUP parameters are as per usual.
- Don’t forget the match mode operator as 2. We need this for Wild card – pattern matching.
Refer to above illustration for more on the pattern matching xlookup.
Additional Pattern Matching Tricks with XLOOKUP
Refer to below handy table for some extra tips on using the partial matching feature of XLOOKUP.
| Situation | Formula | Explanation | Sample Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name ends with ved | =XLOOKUP(“*ved”, B4:B21,D4:D21,”No such person”,2) | To find a word ending with, we use * (asterisk) at the beginning of the pattern | Javed, $2277 |
| Name contains ack | =XLOOKUP(“*ack*”, B4:B21,D4:D21,”No such person”,2) | We can use two * symbols – one at the beginning of the pattern and one at the end. | Jackie, $1610 |
| Name has 5 letters and begins with Je | =XLOOKUP(“Je???”,B4:B21,D4:D21,,2) | In this case, we can use the ? (question mark) symbol to indicate that we can have any one character. So the pattern is Je??? | Jessy, $726 |
| Name begins with J and ends with d | =XLOOKUP(“J*d”, B4:B21, D4:D21,”No such person”, 2) | J*d means the lookup value begins with J, contains any number of letters and ends with d | Javed, $2277 |
What if there are two matching values?
If you have more than one matching item for the lookup value in your data, XLOOKUP, just like all other lookup functions in Excel, will always return the first matching item’s corresponding value.
As you can see in the above illustration, we have two sales persons with the name Johnson in our data.
When using =XLOOKUP(“Johnson”, B4:B21, D4:D21) we are going to get the net sales of the first Johnson ie $1540.
But what if I need to get the second or third or all the matching values?
In this case, you can use the new FILTER() function in Excel to get the second or all matching items.
Here is the formula.
=FILTER(D4:D21,B4:B21="Johnson")For more information on FILTER function, refer to this article.
Horizontal Lookup with XLOOKUP (HLOOKUP replacement):
XLOOKUP works just as good with horizontal data too, thus replacing any need for HLOOKUP function.
In the above example, I have monthly budget table and I want to lookup the budget value for April 2024.
We can use this XLOOKUP formula to do just that.
=XLOOKUP(C10,C3:N3,C4:N4)Returning entire row of information with XLOOKUP:
Another powerful feature of XLOOKUP is that it can return multiple values all corresponding to the same lookup value. For example, I want to see the budget, actual and balance information for the month of April 2024, from my budget spreadsheet below. We can use XLOOKUP for that easily.
=XLOOKUP(C10,C3:N3,C4:N6)In the above formula, by using multiple rows (C4:N6) as the return array, we can return all corresponding values for the lookup value in C10 – ie April 2024. Excel will automatically spill these values into separate cells on the worksheet.
XLOOKUP – things to keep in mind:
When using XLOOKUP, you must keep these points in mind:
- XLOOKUP needs Excel 365 or Excel on the web or Excel 2021: This function is not available in all the versions of Excel. So check your version of Excel before you start using xlookup. If you notice #NAME errors when working with XLOOKUP, that means your version of Excel does not support this function. Instead, use INDEX+MATCH formula.
- Use the If not found option to fix errors: To avoid any lookup errors (#N/As), use the fourth argument of the XLOOKUP function – if_not_found.
- Lock cell references when creating lookups: If you are writing multiple XLOOKUPs in a range, don’t forget to lock your cell references to absolute mode (change B4:B21 to $B$4:$B$21) so that when you drag or fill the formula down, your lookup and return array ranges don’t change. This is a common mistake and you will end up with wrong results. (absolute vs. relative references)
- Or better yet, convert your lookup data to a table: A simple fix to the relative reference issue is to use tables on your data. This way, you can write simple XLOOKUP formulas like this: =XLOOKUP(“Jackie”,sales[Sales Person],sales[Net Sales])
- In case of multiple matches, XLOOKUP always returns the first (or last matching item, if you used search mode option) value. This is why it is important to also learn how to use the FILTER function in Excel.
How is XLOOKUP better?
- XLOOKUP makes the most used formula in Excel straight forward and less error prone. You just write =XLOOKUP(what you want to find, the list, the result list) and boom, you get the answer (or #N/A error if the value is not found)
- Looks up exact match by default: One of the annoyances of VLOOKUP is that you must mention FALSE as last parameter to get correct result. XLOOKUP fixes that by doing exact matches by default. You can use match mode parameter to change the lookup behavior if you want.
- 4th parameter to support value not found scenario In most business situations, we are forced to wrap our lookup formulas with IFERROR or IFNA formulas to suppress errors. XLOOKUP offers 4th parameter (read more about it below) so you can tell what default output you want if your value is not found.
- XLOOKUP offers optional parameters to search for special situations. You can search from top or bottom, you can do wildcard searches and faster options to search sorted lists.
- It returns reference as output, not the value. While this may not mean much for normal users, pro Excel user’s eyes light up when they discover a formula that can return refs. That means, you can combine XLOOKUP outputs in innovative ways with other formulas. For example: XLOOKUP to create dependant drop down in Excel.
- It is so much cooler to type, you just type =XL. I am not sure if this is a happy coincidence but saying =XL to get this formula is just awesome.
XLOOKUP Syntax
Simple case:
=XLOOKUP(what you want to look, lookup list, result list)
=XLOOKUP("Jackie", sales[Sales Person], sales[Net Sales])
returns Jackie’s [Net Sales] if the name can be found in [Sales Person]
Optional parameters:
By default, you just need 3 parameters for XLOOKUP, as shown above. But you can also use 4th, 5th and 6th parameter to specify how you want the lookup to be done.
4th parameter for XLOOKUP: IF not found (no more IFERROR!!!)
The newly introduced XLOOKUP has an even newer feature. It now supports if not found option. This is the 4th parameter.
For example, use:
=XLOOKUP(“Chandoo”, sales[Sales Person], sales[Net Sales],”Value not found”) to return “Value not found” if the lookup value is not available in the search column – sales[Sales Person].
5th parameter for XLOOKUP: Match mode or type:
Use this to tell Excel how you want your MATCH to happen. The default is 0 (exact match) but you can also use these other options, shown below.
6th parameter for XLOOKUP: Search mode
Try this if you want to search from bottom to top. The default direction is top down (1).
XLOOKUP with two sheets
If you have data in two seperate sheets (or files), you can use XLOOKUP to quickly combine the data and get what you want.
Refer to my XLOOKUP with two sheets article for detailed instructions and formula examples.
XLOOKUP – Video Tutorial:
Here is a simple but effective video tutorial on how to use XLOOKUP function and how it can replace VLOOKUP and INDEX+MATCH functions. You can also watch the xlookup tutorial on my channel.
Download XLOOKUP examples – workbook
Click here to download the 13 XLOOKUP examples file.
And one more example file, this with INDEX+MATCH replacements.
Final thoughts on XLOOKUP
In my opinion, XLOOKUP is a terrific function and a must have for any data professional. It is part of my essential Excel formulas list for data analysts.
When we nest XLOOKUP formulas, we can also perform more complex lookups like 2-WAY lookups or search across different worksheets. I discuss some of these advanced scenarios in a recent video on my YouTube channel. Please watch it here.
The only downside of XLOOKUP is the compatibility. It doesn’t work in all versions of Excel. For this reason, I still think there is value in learning how to use VLOOKUP and INDEX MATCH functions.
Do let me know what you think about XLOOKUP and if you have any questions about it using the comments section.
Learn more about Data Analysis with Excel:
This post is part of my data analysis with Excel series. Please learn other topics too and improve your data skills with Excel.
- How to use Excel Tables – 13 time saving tips
- How to use Dynamic Array functions in Excel such as Filter, Unique, Sort etc.
- Working with Power Query in Excel to save time and shine at work
- Know more about XLOOKUP with my course
37 Responses to “Pie of a Pie of a Pie chart [Good or Bad?]”
If I could have the same quality of graphics and illustration in Office Apps, I would certainly use it.
If I could have the same quality of graphics in Office Apps (Excel, PPT) I would certainly use it.
Chandoo,
First, let me say I love your blog. I like this post, and I think that technically (in terms of readability of data) your argument is correct. The bar of bars, and the table, are much better for readability and accuracy, and as you say would be much easier to produce.
But these points ignore the context of the chart. If the chart was part of a scientific paper, your solution would be a valid one. The context in this case is an illustrated atlas of wildlife. A companion graphic to go with written text. The importance of aesthetic goes up over readability and accuracy. Much of the data and points (I assume) will be covered in the text.
There's always a pure technical tufte-esque argument. But I sometimes think it ignores the value of aesthetics. (Which I admit are quite subjective)
Great post though. Thanks.
The Treemap makes the scope of the data much clearer! The 3D pie chart depiction is deceptive.
This reminds me of the videos ive seen on the internet where it compares the relative sizes of the earth with the larger planets, then the sun, then other stars in the galaxy. Eventually there is an image showing the largest star in the sky with a little pixel representing the sun.
My point is if you varied the size of the charts it would help convey the message. The first chart (salt vs fresh) would be the biggest and the rest would be arranged in descending order. I feel this would be more accurate.
It may be helpful to consider the advice of Steven Few and Edward Tufte regarding pie charts in general. To summarize, they are seldom the most useful way to present data. Here's Few's thoughtful piece on the subject.
http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/08-21-07.pdf
Try putting the percentages on the bar charts instead of actual amounts. Lakewater would be .013 % instead of 52.
That is very good pie chart example.
Please send example file if it is possible.
It will work , even though colors may be confusing , it can be labeled well . Also it can be called as the drilled chart , as it drills in information further , like the first chart may show business in a region , second may drill into a particular region , thrid may further drill into wat products are there in that region . It works well for me , i would more vote for the 2 nd option .
Overall all this site is awesome ,
p.s : just like me
The risk with pie of a pie of a pie chart is that Jon may have a seizure by looking at it. Also, it isn't easy to read. 😉
I dunno. The only thing worse than a pie chart is a cascading series of pie charts. I don't even think they really lend themselves to this sort of thing. It just becomes a big hide-the-ball game with your viewer.
Those goofy connectors between the pies are pure chart junk. I can't really tell if the second chart has 2 series or 3 - because the connector is a different color than the 2 labeled slices. Despite that, even whereas the drill down kind of works, still the individual components suffer from the same old weaknesses that 3d pie charts have.
Use a large bar chart as your "cover story", and fill in the sub points with smaller bar charts - or even go grab the Fabrice SFE project for extra butter. Use page orientation, color, and some text styles to guide your audience through the drill downs.
FWIW, if you check out the guy's site, you can find several other truly mortifying charts:
http://www.andrewdavies.com.au/index.html
The methane emissions one is particularly heinous. Although, I'm kind of debating what I think about the 'Glacier Changes" chart. I'd kind of like to see the data on that to see how it would look in a more traditional horizon chart.
Thank you, that was scary. I don't understand the "Glacier changes" Chart at all...
Its a very nice way to represent the data, especially when we have sets and sub-sets within the data.
I like these!
Except for the fact that they aren't dynamic and hence must be setup manually each time
It would also be nice if they could be interrogated as in select a different segment and the new data falls out automagically, but then none of the standard Excel charts do that either.
I'd like it better if the bars were stacked. How about this idea (I hope I can convey it in words):
First bar is vertical and stacked.
Second bar is horizontal, stacked horizontally and the same proportion had it been on the first bar.
Third bar is vertical, stacked vertically and the same proportion had it been on the second bar.
Then it would really look like you are zooming on the chart, like the Powers of Ten video, or maybe like the golden ration spiral.
These looks shunting but setting up for each step makes kicks them out. However if these can be arranged automatically by native excel or by VBA, these will be the part of my "Archery"
I agree with Chandoo's Suggestion about the Bar Graph which represents data in a very appropriate manner. Even I prefer doing the same. I seldom use Pie Chart unless required.
That's a real nice example of a missleading infographic. But to be honest, I think chandoos suggestion is not much better!
Why are pie charts bad? I think because they don't show the real size-relations. The biggest pie in that example ist 300k big. The 2nd one has only the size of 10k, about 3% of the first one. Niether the pies nor the bars show the real sizes. I jnow, it's hard to show the sizes because the values of the second and the third pie are so small. But that's what visualization are about - showing relations to allow the reader to see the real sizes!
So how to show the real figures?
First possibility is o use a 1:1 scaling. Well then, you need a very big screen to show also after a 90° rotation, wihich I would prefer because it's a structural comparison and not a timeline. Maybe that solution is not the perfect way.
The other chance you have is to zoom in but to really show that you zoom in! http://www.pro-chart.de/images/Water_Fall.png maybe gives you a first impression what i mean. (i was a quick try, done in 10 minutes)
The next way is, maybe to fold the bars like in the financial report 2011 of the Post of Switzerland page 22. That chart is based on an excel chart. Maybe can explain you how to do it 😉
Financial Statement: http://www.post.ch/en/post-startseite/post-berichterstattung/post-berichterstattung-service/post-berichterstattung-downloads/post-gb-2011-finanzbericht.pdf
page 22: http://www.pro-chart.de/images/FS_Schweizer_Post.png
A way that is not so very common is to divide the bars in a lot of single datapoints. So maybe the 390k bar then consists of about 5,000 single datapoint. That's not possible - it is! Have a look:
http://www.pro-chart.de/images/Dotted_WF.png
It's pure excel!
Now one single point ist 0,2% of the whole (in the example above). Add more datapoints and you can visulize the very big and the very small numbers!
Wish you a lot of fun - visualizing with excel can be very powerful!
Joerg
...if you would like to know how these charts work, just send an email to J.Decker@pro-chart.de
Hey Joerg,
I don't dig so much the dotted waterfall thing. But this is kind of awesome:
http://www.pro-chart.de/images/FS_Schweizer_Post.png
Can you help me on the bar of bar graph? Would it be possible to create that from pivot table? Can you show me how to create the bar of bar graph?
do nothing but say "Awesome!"
You are a Rock star.....This seemed an answer as if someone was reading my mind and just had the solution to my questions on what I exactly was looking for .....What a Fab !!
can u explian me step by step
Can anyone please explain how to make this chart please.
Do you mean the pie of a pie chart or the folded bar chart?
Joery PIE OF PIE Chart please
Can someone please explain how to make PIE OF PIE Chart.
@Mandeep
The last line of the post is:
PS: If you want to know to create this pie of pie of pie chart in excel, see here.
Due to forum migration, link is now:
http://chandoo.org/forum/threads/multiple-pie-chart.7343/
Hi... i love these charts.... can any one show me how to draw these charts in excel 2010
@Vamshi
The very last line of the post refers you to:
PS: If you want to know to create this pie of pie of pie chart in excel, see here. http://chandoo.org/forums/topic/multiple-pie-cahrt
Where is the attachment....it used to be there...i have seen this before but now i am not able to find...
See this:
http://img.chandoo.org/playground/WaterDistribution-chandoo.xlsx
And this:
http://chandoo.org/forum/threads/how-do-you-create-this-chart.9743/
Normally I don't learn post on blogs, however I would like to
say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do so!
Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you,
quite great article.
This is very impressive, I would like to learn how to build this for myself. I have tried for some time now, is there a step by step process on how to create these waterfall pie of pie charts?
I am novice to excel and use it very seldom. But your blog contains to the point information one needs to get going.
I was searching for a trick to do a Pie chart drill down - for example the first pie chart shows how the prices are distributed between perishable and non-perishable items.
Now if we want to know how the perishable items are distributed - one can click the segment and it will draw another pie chart with distribution of all different perishable items (milk,meat,fruit,veg etc)
So do you have any such trick?
Regards,
electrojit
I like the look of your pie of pie of pie chart, although I understand that the relative size of each pie does not represent the actual percentages.