Why VLOOKUP Sometimes Fails

VLOOKUP is reliable, but it fails in a handful of predictable ways. Most errors are not mysterious once you know the rules.

In this lesson you will learn the common causes of a broken lookup and exactly how to fix each one. Knowing these turns confusing #N/A and #REF! errors into quick, easy repairs.

VLOOKUP can only search the leftmost column of its table_array and return values to the right. It cannot look up a value and return something to its left.

If your IDs are in column C and the name you want is in column A, VLOOKUP cannot reach back. Your options: rearrange columns so the search column is first, or use INDEX-MATCH or XLOOKUP, which search any direction.