HLOOKUP Function in Excel: Look Up Across the Top Row of a Table

HLOOKUP Function in Excel: Look Up Across the Top Row of a Table featured illustration

📎 This article includes 2 downloadable practice files ↓

⏱ 2 min readUpdated 5 October 2026

LookupLevel: IntermediateAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. HLOOKUP in practice
  5. Where you will use it
  6. Worked example
  7. Mistakes people make
  8. Related functions
  9. Continue learning

HLOOKUP is VLOOKUP turned sideways: it searches the top row and returns a value from a row below.

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Syntax

=HLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, row_index_num, [range_lookup])
Argument What it means
lookup_value Value to find in the first row.
row_index_num Which row to return.
range_lookup FALSE for exact.

Examples

Example 1

=HLOOKUP("Mar", $B$1:$M$20, 5, FALSE)

March value for the 5th row of a months-across table.

HLOOKUP in practice

Where you will use it

  • Look up a rate from a horizontal slab table
  • Monthly targets laid out across columns
  • Old templates with headings in rows

Worked example

MonthFormulaResult
Apr=HLOOKUP(A2,$E$1:$G$2,2,FALSE)100
Jun=HLOOKUP(A3,$E$1:$G$2,2,FALSE)150
May=HLOOKUP(A4,$E$1:$G$2,2,FALSE)120

Results calculated in Excel. Target table: Apr 100, May 120, Jun 150 in E1:G2.

Mistakes people make

MistakeWhat to do instead
Forgetting FALSEApproximate match returns wrong values on unsorted headers
Row number changesXLOOKUP is safer when rows are inserted

VLOOKUP · XLOOKUP · INDEX

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📎 Practice files for this article

⬇ Download all 2 files (ZIP · 39 KB)

  • 📗
    Lookup scenarios workbookVLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH and XLOOKUP side by side — vertical, horizontal, two-way — plus 6 real failure cases and their fixes, with PASS/FAIL checks.
    ⬇ XLSX · 10 KB
  • 📗
    Practice workbook: Lookup & reference17 tasks on realistic sales data — type your formula, the Check column turns green when it is right. Answers sheet included.
    ⬇ XLSX · 35 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.

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