This makes it difficult to use VLOOKUP to find a value using multiple criteria.
Inside the VLOOKUP function, the lookup value itself is also created by joining the same criteria.
VLOOKUP with multiple criteria
The VLOOKUP function does not handle multiple criteria natively. However, if you have control over source data, you can use a helper column to join multiple fields together, and use these fields like multiple criteria inside VLOOKUP. In the example shown, Column B is a helper column that concatenates first and last names together, and VLOOKUP does the same to build a lookup value. The formula in I6 is: =VLOOKUP(I4&I5,data,4,0) where "data" is the named range B4:F104 Note: This approach is simple, but limited. For a more powerful solution that does not require a helper column, see this advanced formula based on Boolean logic. Also consider a more direct approach based on INDEX and MATCH or XLOOKUP.
