Learn how to use Excel XLOOKUP function with two sheets in this step-by-step tutorial.
Why you may want to use XLOOKUP with two sheets?
If you have data in two places (sheets or Excel workbooks) like depicted above, you may want to use XLOOKUP to combine data from both places to get the full picture. For example,
- Student list in sheet1, course price list in sheet2, you want to know the price of courses against student names in sheet1
- Invoice list in sheet1, payment list in sheet 2, you need to know which invoices are paid up (reconciliation)
- Equipment list in sheet1, inspection details in sheet2, you want to know when the last inspection date is for each equipment
What you need?
- You need two sheets of data.
- or if data is in two separate Excel files, then open both files.
- If you need a sample data file, grab my free xlookup two sheets template.
XLOOKUP with two sheets (step-by-step instructions)
Step 1: Identify common column between both sheets
For example, in the above scenario, “Fee” is the common column between sheet 1 (student list) and sheet 2 (course list).
What if I have more than 1 common column?
I will explain the process for modifying XLOOKUP to work with multiple columns further down the page. Read on.
Step 2: Write the XLOOKUP formula
Go to the sheet where you want to get the data from “other” sheet and write the XLOOKUP function using the pattern below.
=XLOOKUP(
all cells in first sheet,
common column in second sheet,
column you want in second sheet,
optional output for missing values
)for example, in our students & fees case, we will use the below XLOOKUP function.
=XLOOKUP(C4:C43,
Courses!B4:B15,
Courses!D4:D15
)
As demonstrated above, xlookup can automatically spill values for all the rows based on the common column you have specified. No need to individually write or drag the formulas. You also don’t need to “lock” your references with this style of formulas. Learn more about the spill functionality and dynamic array behavior of Excel here.
Using Tables? Don’t select the full column in sheet 1
If you are using Excel Tables for your data, just select the current cell in first row but select common column and column you want in sheet 2. Excel will automatically fill the formula down for you.
For example, the same formula with tables could look like this:
=XLOOKUP([@Course Name], courses[name], courses[fee])What if I have more than one common column? (XLOOKUP multiple criteria)
Let’s say you have different fee per course based on the the student’s location (ex: In state is $600, out of state is $900). Something like this:
In such cases, your student’s data will also have both “course code” and “student type” columns. something like this:
As you can see, our XLOOKUP needs to check both of these columns to figure out the correct fee per row.
XLOOKUP with two sheets, multiple columns (step-by-step instructions)
Step 1: Identify common columns between sheets
In our case, the common columns are,
- Course Code (column C in sheet 1, column B sheet 2)
- Student Type (column D in sheet 1, column C in sheet 2)
Step 2: Write the multi-criteria XLOOKUP
Instead of looking up for a specific column value, we start the xlookup with 1 and construct a “boolean” checking array. The formula looks like this:
=XLOOKUP(1,
('Courses NEW'!$B$4:$B$27=Students!C4)*('Courses NEW'!$C$4:$C$27=Students!D4),
'Courses NEW'!$D$4:$D$27)Formula Explanation:
- We start the lookup with 1. I will explain what this is in a second.
- The lookup array has multiple parts, one per common column. As we have two columns to match (course code and student type), we have two parts here.
- Part1: (‘Courses NEW’!$B$4:$B$27=Students!C4) checks which courses in column B of sheet 2 (course code column) match with the course of current student record (column C of sheet 1)
- Part 2: (‘Courses NEW’!$C$4:$C$27=Students!D4) does the same, but for student type
- Part 1 * Part 2: when we multiply both of these checks, we end up with an array of 0s and 1s. for example, it will look like this: {0;0;0;0;0;1;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0}
- The return array is just the fee column of sheet 2
- As we are looking for 1, xlookup matches the 1 in Part 1*Part 2 and returns the corresponding fee.
Related: learn more about what and how of this boolean multiplication logic in Excel
Watch – XLOOKUP with multiple criteria explained quickly
Generic Formula Pattern for any number of common columns with XLOOKUP
Use this pattern and adjust everything as per your data to match any number of common columns
=XLOOKUP(
1,
(COLUMN 1 in second sheet = value 1 first sheet) *
(COLUMN 2 in second sheet = value 2 first sheet) *
(COLUMN 3 in second sheet = value 3 first sheet) *
(COLUMN 4 in second sheet = value 4 first sheet),
COLUMN YOU WANT TO GET IN SECOND SHEET,
OPTIONAL value for missing cases
)
What if I have data in two separate workbooks (Excel files) instead of sheets
The process is exactly same as two sheets. You just need to keep both files OPEN for the XLOOKUP to work. If you close the second file (one with fees in this example), the formula in first workbook works as long as you don’t touch it or recalculate the workbook (F9). At that point it will throw an error and ask you to open the file.
Alternatives to XLOOKUP for combining data from two places
While xlookup is great, you can also use below alternatives to get data from another place.
- Use VLOOKUP to combine two sheets of data: You can use VLOOKUP (or even INDEX+MATCH) to combine data from two places. Read this article for the instructions on how to use VLOOKUP .
- Power Query for combining or merging data: Excel Power Query is another great way to combine data from two places. Refer to this video to learn more about power query for combining two sheets of data.
- Power Pivot to combine data from tables to make a single pivot: You don’t always have to combine data. You can keep things where they are and join tables via common column just like databases with Excel’s Power Pivot feature. This lets you calculate total fees or averages using pivot tables. Refer to this page for an introduction on how to use data model and power pivot feature of Excel.
My preferences:
For simple scenarios and quick analysis, I prefer using XLOOKUP or VLOOKUP to quickly combine data like this.
But if the data is coming from two separate files (workbooks or even sharepoint lists etc.), then I use Power Query. It gives me more flexibility and choices. Refer to my Power Query tutorial page for more spicy examples on what this powerful feature can do for you.
Bonus: XLOOKUP with two sheets: Sample workbook
If you need a hand with the formulas explained above, download my free XLOOKUP two sheets template and refer to the formulas in columns E & F. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment.
Related Resources:
To learn more about the important Excel functions and concepts, refer to below articles & videos:
28 Responses to “FIFA Worldcup 2018 Excel Tracker – FREE Download”
Good work as always - I liked the way you did the "menu" on the left hand side (although the buttons aren't lined up between tabs if I'm being ultra picky)
Have you previously written about the method of extracting the Wikipedia page into Power Query? It's not something I recall seeing before.
ps other geeky observsations:
- the bracket columns are too narrow for the date & match number - and will need to be wider still when the team names get populated
- match 51 should be Moscow (Luzhniki) for consistency
- it's not possible to be 23 hours ahead of GMT - the International Dateline gets in the way! I think the maximum is 14. There are also a couple of countries who work to a quarter hour to make it really complicated!
- There's a typo in the how-to - "compated" instead of compared
Thanks for the lovely feedback. I have fixed almost all of them.
1) button alignment: this is tricky as row heights can change between sheets.
2) Column width is fixed now so bracket view looks better
3) Updated the stadium name
4) Did not bother with the 23 hours ahead thingie. This is more of a novelty feature 😛
5) Fixed the type
6) Fixed an issue with live score table. This should work as long as the points table is maintained in wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup
7) I have not discussed the technique of reading all tables on webpage to one big table. Watch out for a blog post on this soon.
Button alignment is one for the ultra-OCD sufferers 😉 There are ways, but only for those with too much time on their hands.
Aah, Excel. The perfect tool for people like us. Everything (cells) is in same shape and size by default and aligned perfectly. 😀
Is there actually a way to copy row heights (in the same way you copy column widths?)
By the way Chandoo, great post. I'm forwarding to my department. I actually use another query from the same page to automatically fill in the team names for the knock-out stages (I made one for round of 16 which I then duplicated and edited for quarter-finals etc.) This is incredible, I was always wondering how to do these type of queries from the web, and now I know 🙂
Hello!
This is quite amazing and incredibly cool to use 🙂
Testing the constraints of this sheets a few errors popped I noticed:
- Vlookup Group E-H refers to column J instead of E (eg. Brazil gets the same points as Russia because the formula looks up Russia twice)
- Power query only has 29 lines, the overview of has 32 but the 3 countries from group A are lost as the overview is refreshed - causing N/A in the group stage colums
@Jake.. thank you. I am sorry for the errors. I could not test the live points table until the games began. I see my folly now. I have fixed both issues and uploaded a new file. As the points table relies on a wikipedia page, if someone decides to change the layout or rename a column it can seriously harm this template. I took some precautions in the Power Query layer to adjust column names dynamically etc, but it is not foolproof.
Try downloading the newer version and let me know if you see something funny.
No worries!
Was able to fix the vlookup myself but the power query had me bit stumped 🙂 And wanted to give you a heads-up to everyone can enjoy it!
Thanks for the awesome sheet!
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this world cup tracker. Certainly makes it more interesting when the data is current. As a newbie, it also helps to have a couple of mistakes to find whether unintentional or not.
Thanks again
Hi,
Your v-lookups in the "Group Stage" tab for groups E, F, G, and H (all the ones under column O) are pointing to the wrong country. They all point to column J, so whatever happens to the countries in column J will also be reflected for the countries in the groups in column O for that same row.
Just thought I'd call that out. Thanks for the great work on this!
@Christian... Thanks for trying this and letting me know about lookups. I have fixed the issue now. Please download latest version for that and few more fixes.
Refresh All did not work correctly. Team names vanished though points were updated.
@Sheeloo... Can you please try with latest version (download again using above links). I tested up to latest Iran's stunning win over Morocco and it works.
Dear Chandoo
Thanks a lot for this worksheet.
However, while refreshing the data, I am getting error message as "Initialisation of Data Source failed".
May I know what version of Excel you are using? Do you have internet connectivity? If you are familiar with Power Query, try tracing the steps in the query editor. And oh, first start with the latest version of file (link above).
@Etienne - yes. Copy row, paste formats will do it, although obviously that will bring the formats of every cell in the row as well as the height.
Latest version seems to be working well.
One request: the Groups & Points tables on the Group Stage sheet have the team names pre-entered. This means they don't get sorted according to the results.
On my copy, I've changed them to a lookup, so they appear in the same order as the points table. It would be good if you can do the same if/when you release a new update!
Here's what I did. It's not the most elegant, but it works, and I didn't have much time to spend on it!
Using helper values of 1,2,3,4 in columns I and N for each group, the formula for the first team name in group A (cell J4) is:
=INDEX(points[Team],MATCH(OFFSET(J4,-(I4),0),points[Group],0)+(I4-1))
This can be copied & pasted to the other team name cells.
Cheers!
Good suggestion. I have made changes to the points table to remove lookups and just show teams in the order they appear in the detailed table. This way, You will see top two teams on first two rows. We could highlight them as well (figured this would make it look like a bowl of M&Ms, so didn't bother) or highlight *YOUR* team.
I consider my Excel skills as above average but far from guru and I love how your little projects like this get me to look at data in a new way. I would like to expand on the data in the points table through the use of some calculations but I am a little challenged by the data coming across as text. The Pts column is easy to deal with, but I'm having problems with the GD. The negative goal differential looks like it may be noted with an en dash instead of a minus sign, but if I search for an en dash in the data Excel doesn't find any. I would like to include conversion to a minus sign in my little macro so I can get everything to numbers but so far I am not having any luck. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.
Thanks for such kind words 🙂
I suggest adding an extra step in Power Query to convert points, GD & other columns to numbers. You can replace em dash in PQ. I did not do it as this will add another layer of dependency and should the wikipedia page change, one more reason for the query to fail.
As always, an awesome spreadsheet from Chandoo. I love the Power Query score update without macros. The country watch-out is a unique feature as well!
For those who like a predictor template with flag lookup and a ribbon UI, here is our spreadsheet:
https://www.spreadsheet1.com/fifa-world-cup-2018-russia-free-prediction-templates-for-excel.html
Here is our World Cup 2022 template with LAMBDA functions:
https://www.spreadsheet1.com/fifa-world-cup-2022-qatar-free-prediction-templates-for-excel.html
[…] Interesting World Cup Tracker here at chandoo.org : https://chandoo.org/wp/fifa-worldcup-2018-tracker/ […]
Great template!
I came across another one with image vlookups for country flags
https://eexcel.co.uk/downloads (World_Cup_2018_Sweepstake.xlsx)
This is a great Template.
I am running Excel 2010 with the PowerQuery add-in running.
The scores will not update, so I followed the error and the second operation (Fitlered rows) says that the table is empty.
After a few minutes on Wikipedia, I realise that my PowerQuery skills are not good enough to work out what the issue is.
Any suggestions?
I would like to fix it myself is possible.
Thanks,
Sean.
@Sean... Can you try the latest version mate? I think it should work.
Where can I see the results for a specific match?
Thanks!
@Juan... You can now. I have included a results tab that shows match scores. This too is a live table. Just refresh data to get new results. Please download latest version file from links above to use this feature.
PS: There is another version coming soon with all goals too. I just have to spend some more time polishing the Json to table Power Query thingie.