XLOOKUP vs VLOOKUP
Choose XLOOKUP for flexible modern lookups; VLOOKUP remains common in legacy workbooks.
XLOOKUP
Use it when
XLOOKUP can return left or right and has an explicit not-found argument.
VLOOKUP
Use it when
VLOOKUP is still useful when compatibility with older Excel versions matters.
Decision rule
Choose the option that matches the real requirement, data size, maintainability needs and compatibility constraints. Avoid selecting a technique only because it is familiar.
Need clarity?Prefer the simpler option that expresses the business rule directly.
Verify before scaling
Run both approaches on a small known dataset if the difference affects financial, inventory or operational decisions. Equivalent-looking techniques can behave differently with duplicates, blanks, NULL values or version constraints.