How to Use VLOOKUP with SUM Function in Excel (6 Methods)

The VLOOKUP function is one of the most powerful, flexible, and extremely useful Microsoft Excel functions to search and retrieve values – either exactly matched values or the closest matched values – by looking up a corresponding value. But to achieve a certain result, utilizing only the VLOOKUP function is not enough sometimes. This article will show you how to use the VLOOKUP function with the SUM function to execute certain operations in Excel. Before diving into the methods, have a look at the overview image below.

VLOOKUP Function in Excel: Syntax

VLOOKUP stands for ‘Vertical Lookup‘. It is a function that makes Excel search for a certain value in a column, in order to return a value from a different column in the same row.

Generic Formula:

Here,

In this section, we will learn how to utilize VLOOKUP and SUM functions in Excel together to generate certain results.

1. Calculating Matching Values in Columns Using VLOOKUP with SUM Function in Excel 

Consider the following dataset which consists of students’ names and their obtained marks on each course stored in different columns. What if you want to find out just a particular student’s total marks? To get that, you have to calculate numbers based on different columns.

Let’s figure out how to look in different columns and get the sum result of matching values in those columns using VLOOKUP SUM functions in Excel.

Steps:

• Select the name or the data that you want to find the result from the dataset and put the name or the data in another cell. (e.g. John in Cell E12).
• Click on another cell where you want the result to appear (e.g. Cell E13).
• In that cell, write the following formula,

Where,

E12 = John, the name that we stored as the lookup value

B5:G9 = Data range to search the lookup value

{1,2,3,4,5,6} = Corresponding columns of the lookup values (columns that has John’s marks on each course stored)

FALSE = As we want an exact match, so we put the argument as FALSE.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter on your keyboard.

This process will give you the result that you required (John’s total marks are 350, achieved by the summation of the marks of his Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and English courses).

Formula Breakdown:

Let’s break down the formula to understand how we found John’s mark.

• VLOOKUP(E12,B5:G9,{1,2,3,4,5,6},FALSE) -> looking for E12 (John) in the B5:G9 (array) and returning the exact corresponding columns values ({1,2,3,4,5,6}, FALSE).

Output: 90,80,70,60,50 (which is exactly the marks John achieved on individual courses)

• SUM(VLOOKUP(E12,B5:G9,{1,2,3,4,5,6},FALSE)) -> becomes SUM(90,80,70,60,50)

Output: 350 (John’s total marks)

2. Determining Matching Values in Rows with Excel VLOOKUP and SUM Function 

Consider the following dataset which consists of students’ names and their obtained marks on each course stored in different columns. What if you want to find out just those particular students’ total marks who have retaken the exam? The dataset holds some students’ marks on each course divided into two rows declaring them as two exam types. To get that, you not only have to calculate numbers based on different columns but also must take multiple rows into consideration.

Let’s figure out how to look at different columns and rows and get the sum result of matching values in those columns and rows using VLOOKUP SUM functions in Excel.

Steps:

• Select a cell in the worksheet to put the name or the data that you want to find the result from the dataset later (in our case, it was Cell E13).
• Click on another cell where you want the result to appear (e.g. Cell E14).
• In that cell, write the following formula,

This process will give you the result that you required (Every student’s total marks with the retaken exam).

Formula Breakdown:

Let’s break down the formula to understand how we found students’ total marks with the retaken exams,

• B5:B11=E13 -> it looks for the match of the lookup value (e.g. John in Cell E13) throughout the array of Name column (B5:B11) and returns TRUE or FALSE based on the search.

Therefore, Output: {TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE}

As we got TRUE values so now we know that there are matched values in the dataset. It is not a constant value-extracting process. Because we can write any name from the dataset in that cell (E13) and the result will be auto-generated in the result cell (e.g. E14). (see the picture above)

• SUMPRODUCT((B5:B11=E13)*C5:G11) -> becomes SUMPRODUCT{TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE}*(C5:G11) which means, the SUMPRODUCT function then multiplies the TRUE/FALSE return value with the return array and produce the result of only for the TRUE values and pass it to the cell. FALSE values are actually canceling the unmatched data of the table array, leading to only the matched values appearing on the cell.

Output: 750 (John’s total marks with the retaken exam)

3. Generating Values in Two Different Worksheets by Using VLOOKUP with SUM Function

We have exam marks of students in the Excel worksheet named Marksheet.

And in the worksheet named Result Sheet, we want to have all the student’s individual total obtaining marks.

The steps to calculate values from another sheet to a working sheet are shown below,

Steps:

• First, select the cell beside the data or wherever in that worksheet you want the output (e.g. the cell beside the name John).
• In that cell, just put a simple VLOOKUP-SUM formula that you have already known from the previous discussion; formula such as,

But as this worksheet doesn’t have any data to be considered, so it will produce an error in the cell. So, all you have to do is, just place the pointer of your mouse before the array declaration in the formula (e.g. B5:G9), and select the other sheet that you want your values from.

It will auto-generate that sheet into your working sheet, hence all the data on that sheet will also be a property of the working sheet.

Now the formula becomes,

• Press Enter and you will get the desired result (e.g. John’s total marks is 350, generated from the Marksheet worksheet)

• Drag the row down by Fill Handle to apply the formula to the rest of the rows to get the results.

You will get the result of all the lookup data from another sheet of Excel in your working Excel sheet.

Read more: How to Vlookup and Sum Across Multiple Sheets in Excel

4. Applying VLOOKUP and SUM Functions to Measure Values across Multiple Worksheets  

Okay, now that you know how to look up and retrieve value from one worksheet and get the result in another worksheet in Excel, it’s time to learn how to do that in multiple worksheets.

Consider the following data where we have three different worksheets named Math Sheet, Physics Sheet and Chemistry Sheet where each course obtaining marks of individual student were stored.

And we want to know only the total mark of the students, not the individual. So we can retrieve that in our working sheet from all of those individual sheets. And the process is similar to the process discussed before.

To auto-generate the whole sheet just before the array declaration, you manually picked the sheet just by clicking on it right? So, here you will do exactly like that. The difference is before you just had to select one sheet, but this time you will select multiple sheets multiple times just before the array declaration of every dataset from the related worksheet.

• The formula will look like this,

• Press Enter and you will get the desired result (e.g. John’s total marks is 240, generated from the worksheets from the Math Sheet, Physics Sheet, Chemistry Sheet).

• Drag the row down by Fill Handle to apply the formula to the rest of the rows to get the results.

You will get the result of all the lookup data from multiple sheets of Excel in your working Excel sheet.

Similar Readings:

• How to VLOOKUP with Multiple Conditions in Excel (2 Methods)
• Combine SUMIF and VLOOKUP Excel (3 Quick Approaches)

5. Combining VLOOKUP with SUM Function in Excel to Sum up Values in Different Columns 

Consider the following dataset which consists of students’ names and their obtained marks on each course stored in different columns. What if you want to find out just a particular student’s total marks based on some specific courses? To get that, you have to calculate numbers based on alternative columns.

Let’s figure out how to look in alternative columns and get the sum result of matching values in those columns using VLOOKUP SUM functions in Excel.

Steps:

• Select the name or the data that you want to find the result from the dataset and put the name or the data in another cell. (e.g. John in Cell E12).
• Click on another cell where you want the result to appear (e.g. Cell E13).
• In that cell, write the following formula,

Where,

• E12 = John, the name that we stored as the lookup value
• B5:G9 = Data range to search the lookup value
• {2,5} = Corresponding columns of the lookup values (columns that has John’s marks on only Math & Biology courses stored)
• FALSE = As we want an exact match, so we put the argument as FALSE.
• Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter on your keyboard.

This process will give you the result that you required (John achieved a total of 150 marks on Math and Biology courses).

Formula Breakdown:

Let’s break down the formula to understand how we found John’s total marks in the Math and Biology courses.

• VLOOKUP(E12,B5:G9,{2,5},FALSE) -> looking for E12 (John) in the B5:G9 (array) and returning the exact corresponding columns values of Math and Biology ({2,5},FALSE).

So, Output: 90,60 (which is exactly the marks John achieved on Math and Biology)

• SUM(VLOOKUP(E12,B5:G9,{2,5},FALSE)) -> becomes SUM(90,60)

Output: 150 (John’s total marks on Math and Biology)

6. Using Excel VLOOKUP with SUM Function in Array

Look at the following dataset, where we need to find out not only just the name of the customer but also the total purchase of the large quantity of product that the customer purchased.

And we will utilize VLOOKUP SUM functions in Excel to extract the result from this large set of arrays.

Steps:

• Select a cell in the worksheet to put the name or the data that you want to find the result from the dataset later (in our case, it was Cell J5).
• Click on another cell where you want the result to appear (e.g. Cell J6).
• In that cell, write the following formula,

This process will produce the customer’s name along with the total purchase.

Formula Breakdown:

Let’s break down the formula to understand how we found customer names and relevant purchases.

• VLOOKUP(F5:F9,B5:C9,2,FALSE) -> it looks for the exact name (FALSE argument) of all the Products (F5:F9) from the second table, in the Product array (B5:C9) from the first table and returns the price of that product (column index 2).

Therefore, Output: 700,1500,100,300,500

• VLOOKUP(F5:F9,B5:C9,2,FALSE)*G5:G9 -> G5:G9 refers to the Quantity column of the dataset.
  So, VLOOKUP(F5:F9,B5:C9,2,FALSE)*G5:G9 becomes {(700,1500,100,300,500)*(10,50,20,200,80)}.

Output: 7000,75000,2000,60000,40000

• E5:E9=J5 -> it looks for the match of the lookup value (e.g. John in Cell J5) throughout the array of Name column (E5:E9) and returns TRUE or FALSE based on the search.

Lastly, Output: {TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE}

As we got TRUE values so now we know that there are matched values in the dataset. It is not a constant value extracting process. Because we can write any name from the dataset in that cell (J5) and the result will be auto-generated in the result cell (e.g. J6).

• VLOOKUP(F5:F9,B5:C9,2,FALSE)*G5:G9*(E5:E9=J5) -> becomes (7000,75000,2000,60000,40000)*({TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE}), it multiplies the TRUE/FALSE return value with the return array and produce the result only for the TRUE values and pass it to the cell. FALSE values are actually cancelling the unmatched data of the table array, leading to only the matched values appearing on the cell (J6), meaning, if you put the name John from the Name dataset (E5:E9) in the cell J5, it will only generate the total purchase (7000) of John, if you put name Roman, it will produce 75000 in the result cell (J6). (see the picture above)

Subsequently, Output: 7000,0,0,0,0

• SUM(VLOOKUP(F5:F9,B5:C9,2,FALSE)*G5:G9*(E5:E9=J5)) -> becomes SUM(7000)

Output: 7000 (which is exactly the total purchase amount of John)

Key Points You Must Keep in Mind

• As the range of the data table array to search for the value is fixed, don’t forget to put the dollar ($) sign in front of the cell reference number of the array table.
• When working with array values, don’t forget to press Ctrl + Shift + Enter on your keyboard while extracting results. Pressing only Enter will work only when you are using Microsoft 365.
• After pressing Ctrl + Shift + Enter, you will notice that the formula bar enclosed the formula in curly braces {}, declaring it as an array formula. Don’t type those brackets {} yourself, Excel automatically does this for you.

Download Practice Template

You can download the free practice Excel template from here and practice on your own.

Conclusion

This article explained in detail how to use VLOOKUP and SUM functions in Excel. I hope this article has been very beneficial to you. Feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding the topic.

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