The Ultimate Showdown (2025): XLOOKUP vs. VLOOKUP vs. INDEX/MATCH

For years, the great debate in Excel has been VLOOKUP vs. INDEX/MATCH. One was simple but limited; the other was powerful but complex. Then, a new champion entered the ring: XLOOKUP.

If you’ve ever needed to find a piece of data in one table and pull it into another, you’ve used a lookup function. But which one should you be using in 2025? Is it time to finally say goodbye to VLOOKUP?

This is the ultimate showdown. We’ll break down each function, compare them head-to-head, and give you a clear verdict on which one to use to become a more efficient and powerful Excel user.

The Classic Champion: VLOOKUP

VLOOKUP (Vertical Lookup) is the function most Excel users learn first. It’s the workhorse that has powered spreadsheets for decades.

What it does: It searches for a value in the first column of a table and returns a corresponding value from a specified column to the right.

VLOOKUP Syntax

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

• lookup_value: The value you are looking for.
• table_array: The entire table range where the data resides.
• col_index_num: The number of the column from which to retrieve the value (1 is the first column).
• range_lookup: FALSE for an exact match (most common), TRUE for an approximate match.

VLOOKUP in Action

Let’s say we have this data:

To find the department for Employee ID 102, you would use:

=VLOOKUP(102, A2:C4, 3, FALSE)

Result: “Marketing”

Pros & Cons of VLOOKUP

• Pros:
  • Simple to learn and widely known.
  • Good for straightforward, right-ward lookups.
• Cons:
  • Can’t look left: This is its biggest weakness. The lookup value must be in the first column of your table_array.
  • Breaks easily: If you insert or delete a column, the col_index_num becomes incorrect, breaking your formula.
  • Default is approximate match: Forgetting to add FALSE at the end is a common source of errors.

The Flexible Contender: INDEX/MATCH

For years, INDEX/MATCH was the go-to solution for power users who needed to overcome VLOOKUP’s limitations. It’s not one function, but two working together.

What it does:

• MATCH finds the position (row number) of a value in a list.
• INDEX returns the value at a given position in a list.

Together, they can look up a value in any column and return a corresponding value from any other column.

INDEX/MATCH Syntax

=INDEX(return_array, MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, 0))

• return_array: The column from which you want to get the final value.
• lookup_value: The value you are looking for.
• lookup_array: The column that contains your lookup value.
• 0: Specifies an exact match for the MATCH function.

INDEX/MATCH in Action

Using the same data, let’s find the Employee ID for “Jane Doe”:

=INDEX(A2:A4, MATCH("Jane Doe", B2:B4, 0))

Result: 102

How it works:

1. MATCH(“Jane Doe”, B2:B4, 0) finds “Jane Doe” in the Name column and returns its position, which is 2.
2. INDEX(A2:A4, 2) then returns the value from the 2nd position in the Employee ID column, which is 102.

Pros & Cons of INDEX/MATCH

• Pros:
  • Looks left, right, up, or down: Incredibly flexible.
  • Resilient: It doesn’t break if you insert or delete columns.
  • More efficient on large datasets than VLOOKUP.
• Cons:
  • Complex: It requires nesting two different functions, which can be intimidating for beginners.
  • Verbose: The formula is longer and can be harder to read.

The Modern Champion: XLOOKUP

Released for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021, XLOOKUP was designed to be the successor to both VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH, combining the power of the latter with the simplicity of the former.

What it does: It looks for a value in one range and returns a corresponding value from another range.

XLOOKUP Syntax

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array, [if_not_found], [match_mode], [search_mode])

• lookup_value: The value you are looking for.
• lookup_array: The column or row to search in.
• return_array: The column or row to return a value from.
• [if_not_found]: (Optional) What to return if no match is found (no more #N/A errors!).
• [match_mode]: (Optional) 0 for exact match (default), or other options for approximate matches.
• [search_mode]: (Optional) Specify search direction (e.g., first-to-last or last-to-first).

XLOOKUP in Action

Let’s find the Employee ID for “Jane Doe” again:

=XLOOKUP("Jane Doe", B2:B4, A2:A4)

Result: 102

It’s as simple as VLOOKUP but as powerful as INDEX/MATCH.

Pros & Cons of XLOOKUP

• Pros:
  • Simple and intuitive syntax.
  • Can look left or right without changing the formula structure.
  • Defaults to an exact match, which is safer and what users want most of the time.
  • Built-in if_not_found argument eliminates the need for IFERROR.
  • Can return entire rows or columns, not just a single value.
  • Can search from bottom-to-top to find the last occurrence of a value.
• Cons:
  • Availability: Only available in Microsoft 365, Excel 2021, and Excel for the web. If you need to share workbooks with users on older versions (like Excel 2016 or 2019), they won’t be able to use it.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Download Example Practice File

To follow along and try these formulas yourself, download our free practice file. The file contains the sample data and all the formulas discussed in this article.

Download the Excel Practice File Here

The Verdict (2025)

For modern Excel users, XLOOKUP is the undisputed champion.

It is simpler, safer, more flexible, and more powerful than both of its predecessors. If you have Microsoft 365 or Excel 2021, you should make XLOOKUP your default lookup function.

So, when should you use the others?

• Use VLOOKUP when: You are working in an environment where you must maintain compatibility with very old versions of Excel (pre-2021) and your lookup is a simple, right-ward one.
• Use INDEX/MATCH when: You need to perform complex lookups (like looking left) and must maintain compatibility with Excel 2010, 2013, 2016, or 2019.

For everyone else, it’s time to embrace the future. Learning and mastering XLOOKUP is one of the single best things you can do to improve your Excel skills in 2025.