Today, Microsoft announced that the new XLOOKUP function for Microsoft Excel is now generally available for Office 365 users. XLOOKUP was first announced back in August of last year and in November, at Ignite, Microsoft said it would hit general availability in the following months. It has been in testing with Office Insiders in the meantime.
As the name might suggest to those already familiar with Excel, XLOOKUP is a successor to VLOOKUP, but it can also replace HLOOKUP, since it combines the features of both. That means you can use XLOOKUP to find values both vertically and horizontally across the spreadsheet.
What's more, XLOOKUP can find values to the left of the cell where you insert the function, so you won't be as restricted as you would be with the previous functions. Additionally, the function supports column insertions and deletions, so the changes you make to your spreadsheet won't break the outcome.
If you'd rather stick to the old VLOOKUP function, it isn't going away, at least for now. However, Microsoft says the new XLOOKUP is faster and more efficient, so you may want to give it a spin.
28 Comments - Add comment