Is VLOOKUP deprecated?

No. Microsoft has not deprecated VLOOKUP, and it still works in every Excel version. XLOOKUP is the recommended successor, but old workbooks full of VLOOKUP will keep calculating indefinitely with no warning.

Is INDEX/MATCH still relevant?

Mostly for older Excel. Before XLOOKUP, the INDEX/MATCH combo was the way to look left or avoid column-shift breakage. If you have XLOOKUP, it does the same job in one cleaner function.

When should I use approximate match?

Use it for banded lookups against a sorted table — tax brackets, shipping tiers, or letter grades — where a value falls into a range. Pass -1 as XLOOKUP's match mode, or TRUE in VLOOKUP, and keep the table sorted ascending.

Is XLOOKUP slower than VLOOKUP?

On normal sheets the difference is imperceptible. XLOOKUP references two narrow columns instead of a wide block, which can actually be lighter; for very large exact-match lookups both are fast enough that readability should decide.

VLOOKUP vs XLOOKUP: Which to Use

Last updated June 2026

Quick answer

Between VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP, use XLOOKUP whenever your Excel has it — Microsoft 365 or Excel 2021 and later. It looks left or right, defaults to an exact match, survives inserted columns, and handles missing values with a built-in fallback. Reach for VLOOKUP only when a file must open in Excel 2019 or earlier, where XLOOKUP simply does not exist.

How do you write an XLOOKUP?

Look up a value with XLOOKUP

Set up a lookup table
Put your reference data in two columns — say categories in D2:D50 and their budgets in F2:F50. The lookup value you want to match (a category name) sits in A2.
Type the XLOOKUP formula
In B2, match A2 against the category column, return the value from the budget column, and pass a fourth argument as the if-not-found text so a missing match reads cleanly instead of throwing #N/A.
=XLOOKUP(A2,$D$2:$D$50,$F$2:$F$50,"Not found")
Lock the ranges and fill down
The $ signs keep both ranges fixed. Drag the fill handle down so each row matches its own value in A. Because the lookup and return ranges are separate, inserting a column between them never breaks the formula.
Compare against the VLOOKUP equivalent
The same lookup in VLOOKUP needs one block range and a column-position number, and you must add FALSE to force an exact match — forget it and Excel quietly does an approximate match on unsorted data.
=VLOOKUP(A2,$D$2:$F$50,3,FALSE)

What is the difference between VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP?

Feature	VLOOKUP	XLOOKUP
Lookup direction	Left-to-right only — the key must sit left of the result	Any direction; lookup and return columns are independent
Default match mode	Approximate (`TRUE`) — you must add `FALSE` for exact	Exact match by default; approximate is opt-in
Column-insertion safety	Breaks — the hard-coded `col_index_num` shifts	Survives — you reference whole ranges, not a count
Built-in if-not-found	None — wrap it in `IFERROR` yourself	Fourth argument returns your fallback text
Return value	A single column position	A range — can spill several columns at once
Availability	Every Excel version (and Google Sheets)	Microsoft 365 and Excel 2021 or later only

Where XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP actually differ in day-to-day use.

If you only remember one thing: XLOOKUP is exact-match by default, so it won't silently return the wrong row. That single behavior change is the strongest reason to switch the moment your Excel supports it.

Frequently asked questions

Is VLOOKUP deprecated?: No. Microsoft has not deprecated VLOOKUP, and it still works in every Excel version. XLOOKUP is the recommended successor, but old workbooks full of VLOOKUP will keep calculating indefinitely with no warning.
Is INDEX/MATCH still relevant?: Mostly for older Excel. Before XLOOKUP, the INDEX/MATCH combo was the way to look left or avoid column-shift breakage. If you have XLOOKUP, it does the same job in one cleaner function.
When should I use approximate match?: Use it for banded lookups against a sorted table — tax brackets, shipping tiers, or letter grades — where a value falls into a range. Pass -1 as XLOOKUP's match mode, or TRUE in VLOOKUP, and keep the table sorted ascending.
Is XLOOKUP slower than VLOOKUP?: On normal sheets the difference is imperceptible. XLOOKUP references two narrow columns instead of a wide block, which can actually be lighter; for very large exact-match lookups both are fast enough that readability should decide.