How can I use VLOOKUP in Google Sheets to return the minimum value from a data set?

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VLOOKUP is a powerful function in Google Sheets that allows users to quickly retrieve specific data from a larger data set. By using this function, one can easily find the minimum value from a data set in Google Sheets. To do so, the user must first select the data range and the column that contains the minimum value. Then, by using the VLOOKUP function and specifying the criteria as “MIN”, the function will return the lowest value from the selected data set. This feature is especially useful for data analysis and comparison, as it allows users to quickly identify the smallest value in a dataset without having to manually search for it. Overall, utilizing VLOOKUP in Google Sheets to return the minimum value from a data set is an efficient and effective way to streamline data analysis and decision making.

Google Sheets: Use VLOOKUP to Return Minimum Value

You can use the following syntax in Google Sheets with the MIN and VLOOKUP functions to find the minimum value in a range and return a corresponding value:

=VLOOKUP(MIN(A2:A11), A2:B11, 2, FALSE)

This particular formula uses MIN to find the minimum value in the range A2:A11 and then uses VLOOKUP to look up the value in the range B2:B11 that corresponds to this minimum value.

The following example shows how to use this formula in practice.

Example: How to Use VLOOKUP with MIN in Google Sheets

Suppose we have the following dataset that contains information about points scored by various basketball players:

Suppose we would like to look up the minimum value in the points column and return the corresponding team name.

We can type the following formula into cell D2 to do so:

=VLOOKUP(MIN(A2:A11), A2:B11, 2, FALSE)

The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:

Google Sheets VLOOKUP with minimum value

This formula uses the MIN function to find the minimum value of 11 in the points column.

Then, the formula uses the VLOOKUP function to return the team name Jazz, which is the team that corresponds to the minimum value in the points column.

Bonus: Find the Minimum Value Associated with a Lookup Value

If you instead wanted to find the minimum value associated with a specific lookup value, you could use the MINIFS function.

For example, you could use the following formula to find the minimum value associated with the “Warriors” team:

=MINIFS(B2:B9, A2:A9, "Warriors")

The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:

The formula returns a value of 14, which is the minimum value associated with the “Warriors” in this dataset.

Additional Resources

The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Google Sheets:

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