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
49 Responses to “Introduction to Slicers – What are they, how to use them, tips, advanced techniques & interactive reports using Excel Slicers”
Great article!
If you want to learn a bit more about using slicers in VBA, head over here:
http://jkp-ads.com/articles/slicers03.asp
Hi
I downloaded cube-formula-slicer-selection.xlsx.
Why is 'Report Connections' grayed out?
Great article!! Thank you very much... This post is one of the most helpful for my job!
Great Introduction. Thanks very much.
Wow! trying to use this on the reports that I have now. I really liked that Quantity and Amount Bar graph used on the pivot-multi tab, but for the life of me, I can't seem to replicate it from scratch. Help please?
[…] http://chandoo.org/wp/2015/06/24/introduction-to-slicers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email… […]
This is awesome! I will favorite this page in my blog, http://www.exceltoxl.com
Since I've known slicers about 2-3 yrs ago, I've pretty much used them in every damn report I do. Everyone that sees it for the first time is like "This is the best thing ever. Did you do that using excel or something else?" 😀 My bosses are so used it that when they see a report from someone else that doesn't have slicers they send it to me to redo it :).
Couple of tips:-
Tip 1:
If for lack of space or say you want ability to search within a filter due to numerous values being present but still want it to connect to multiple pivot tables or charts then
1. Setup a pivot table with just the report filter
2. Create a slicer with the same field and tie that to all the pivot tables/charts that you want.
3. Just place it some out of sight.
Now you have a dropdown with all your values with search option plsu it is also connected to all your charts and pivot tables.
TIP 2:
In Excel 2013, slicers can be used with just plain tables as well. Not limited to pivot tables.
Congrats!
Nice content : )
Very comprehensive. Explained in an extremely simple way. I have been using Slicers for a while, but still learnt new things from this post. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes.
Awesome Explanation !!
I have joined this blog recently. Brilliant tools are available that I started using in my day to day work. Brilliant site. Thanks heaps.
[…] Read the full article here: Introduction to Slicers – What are they, how to use them, tips, advanced techniques & interact… […]
Oh wow. I've only just started using Excel 2010 and had no idea this even existed. It makes dynamic charts so much easier!
You are my Hero! I am working with PowerPivot due to the huge amount of data I have and could not use my usual tricks to get the scatter chart title to change. For some reason the CUBE function wouldn't work (who knows why, I don't have time to dig into it now) but your "dummy" solution did.
thankyouthankyouthankyou!
Clare
On a normal PivotTable filter, you can choose whether to allow multiple items to be selected or not. Is that possible with slicers (in Excel 2010)? I've had a look through the options and not found a way to do it yet!
Hi Stevie... this is not possible with slicers.
Just hold down control when you're choosing them...can then either click another (without control) and it will show only the new one, or click the filter with the red 'x' to revert back to all options.
Not a limitation that can be placed on the slicer but still a potential workaround depending on your needs.
Very comprehensive note on slicer. I haven't yet used ms excel 2010, but learnt Slicer tool very well
How should I apply Slicer in excel 2010 version, not able find options
as directed, could you please tell me that step by step
@Arif
In Excel 2010 slicers could only be applied to Pivot tables/Charts not Regular tables
@Arif
In Excel 2010 slicers could only be applied to Pivot tables/Charts not Regular tables
I have a longitudinal line graph with the count of exams scored at each level(1-4). I need a longitudinal line graph that shows the percentage for each level. I made my pivot with the count in the field settings with a calculation of % of row total. This works great until you add a slicer fo that you can look at one level at a time. When I do this, it shows as 100% because it seems to lose the rest of the row calculations. How can I set it up to show the percent. I do not have the option of adding it to my data table. I am using straight Pivot, not PowerPivot.
@Mary
I'd suggest asking the question in the Chandoo.org Forums http://forum.chandoo.org/
Attach a sample file with an example of what you are after, even hand drawn
Hi, thanks for these tips. Is it possible to link a slicer to *different data sets*? All my data sets have a "year_opened" and "month_opened" fields, and I'd like do a single filter and update everything at once. Is that possible?
Hi,
Can someone tell me how to format a date field in a slicer to tell July 2016 instead of 07/31/2016?
Thanks in advance.
Great post - easily explainable for non excel whiz.
Thanks for the slicers post. I'm knew to this feature so don't be to harsh on me 🙂
In the example bar chart graph: "Quantity breakup by Customer Profession and & Product category" you get a different picture depending on which area is chosen "East, Middle, North, South, West". That part I get. But the graph itself doesn't specify which region you are in.
Is it possible to put the filtered criteria into the Chart title. For example if I chose West, the title would read "Quantity breakup by Customer Profession and & Product category - West".
Is that possible? Just curious. Thanks
It is possible...I have this on a number of my reports.
1) create a pivot table with just the column your slicer is set on
2) assign the slicer to that pivot table
3) create a string in cell B3 (or wherever):
="Quantity breakup by Customer Profession & Product Category- "&A3
(assuming that A3 is the cell that the chosen region appears in)
4) click (once) on the graph title, then in the formula bar type =B3
As you change the slicers, B3 will update as will the chart title.
Couple of tips:
1) if you need to have a new line for the title, use CHAR(10) e.g.
="Quantity breakup by Customer Profession & Product Category"&CHAR(10)&A3
(this will have the region on a new line)
2) if multiple regions will be chosen, I've added in an IF statement
=IF(COUNTA(A3:A10)>1,"Multiple Regions",A3)
(I'm sure there are ways to concatenate the strings but for mine it could get up to 20 and that just gets ridiculous for the graph heading)
Just Wow
I am trying to create a duplicate dashboard using data in one workbook and creating a new workbook to place in a shared file for my coworkers. I have created a separate worksheet in the original workbook for the new pivot charts and slicers I want to use in the new workbook/dashboard. I don't want all of the source data in the new workbook, as it is very large. I am having trouble making new slicers work. They work in the original workbook, but when I copy them to the new workbook they don't work. Am I going about this the right way or is there an easier way?
Very good post! Helped a lot. Keep up the good work!
how can you prevent multiple selection in a slicer box? In short, in any slicer box, only one entry is allowed and not multiple entries.
Fairly new to forum's, hoping I'm not breaking a rule here, but I found this forum which seems to provide a solution:
https://wessexbi.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/just-one-slice-please/
I have 2 files. (1. .xlsx 2. .xlsm)
1 file contains all the pivot tables and charts. its also macro enabled.
2nd file contains the source data which is a .xlsx file.
but I am unable to run slicer on my 1st file.
can anybody help me out?
chandoo.org: one of my favourite Excel sites for years.
Slicers tutorial: excellent as usual.
Animated gifs: sorry, but REALLY distracting!! Especially with two on the same screen. Is there any way they can be activated only when we click on them, or something?
Hi Team,
I have inserted a slicer to a pivot table with 4 fields...I need to add another field for the same slicer...help me with this..
First of all I would like to say terrific blog!
I had a quick questio in whiich I'd like to ask if you don't
mind. I was intereested to know how you center yourself and clear your head
before writing. I've had a hard time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there.
I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost simply just tryying to figure out how
to begin. Any recommendations oor tips? Many thanks!
Hi All
Im trying to connect a slicer to 2 pivot tables with different sources
Both data tables have been sorted and have duplicates
ie
Table 1
Name Week FTe
A 1 7.2
A 2 7.3
B 1 7.3
B 2 7.3
Table 2
Name Month Fte
A Jan 2.6
A Feb 3.2
A Mar 4.4
B Jan 2.2
B Feb 6.4
B Mar 2.2
etc
I have created 2 pivot tables and have sorted it out the way i want with charts etc
Now all i want is to connect the Name Slicer to be connected to both of those pivot tables but problem is they have duplicates and are from different tables/sources
how can i connect/add this to a data model and connect to my name slicer?
Im sure it maybe something simple but minds not with it
So in short 1 to connect 1 slicer to 2 different pivots from different sources but not all pivots (There are dups in both) - as shown in the example
Thank You
Hi H
This is how you can do it. Create a third table with all slicer options (in this case it would be Name column) with one row per unique value. Now add this table to your source list. Then link all two tables via this third table thru Data ribbon > Manage relationships feature. Finally add a slicer on this third table column and link the slicer to both pivot charts.
Please note that you need to construct the tables and charts after data model is created.
See this page for more explanation on how to use relationships - https://chandoo.org/wp/introduction-to-excel-2013-data-model-relationships/
Hi,
Using Cube Value with Slicers is great. I am new to cube value, but it is so powerful. I am stuck on an issue where I want to filter on a slicer for all values except 1 and the slicer has thousands of values. I get #N/A in the results, when trying to do this. Any ideas on how to do an exception calc or how to get around this with the multi select slicer functionality?
Thanks in advance.
Cyleste
@Cyleste... thanks for your comments and welcome to Chandoo.org. You can use DAX to calculate such things as Excel pivot tables alone cannot function like the way you want. You can use DAX formula EXCEPT() to achieve this. For example,
=CALCULATE(SUM(data[sales]), EXCEPT(ALL(data[filter_column]), VALUES(data[filter_column]))) can tell you the sum of [sales] column in the data table by ignoring slicer selected values.
Hope that helps.
Hi Chandoo,
Thank you for your quick reply. I am not familiar with DAX but it sounds like I won't be able to apply the calculation you provided after converting the power pivot to excel formulas via OLAP.
Cyleste
Thanks Chandoo, I like yours tricks & always I use slicers. Regards from México.
Hi Chandoo,
I have a lot of text in the slices (Pivot table). The text is not completely visible. What should I do?
Please Help
Thanks
Hi Girish,
Slicers are useful only for items with short text, for ex: categories, product names etc. For longer values, you are better off using form controls for interaction - Here is an overview of form controls Form Controls – Adding Interactivity to Your Worksheets
Thanks so much for this, it's brilliant! I think it's almost there - I've actually followed the steps on the example linked in my post. I just can't get it to filter properly; it just returns 0 when I add a date into Cell O2. Should I be doing it differently?
slicers dont work with non-admin roles in OLAP Pivot Tables