How can VLOOKUP be used in Google Sheets to return the minimum value?

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VLOOKUP is a function in Google Sheets that allows users to search for a specific value in a table or range and return a corresponding value in a specific column. By using the MIN function in combination with VLOOKUP, users can return the minimum value from a column of data. This is useful for finding the smallest value in a large dataset and can help with data analysis and decision-making.

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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