Hello everybody! Zoho Sheet has introduced eight new functions to help you create more sophisticated, efficient spreadsheets. Let's take a look at these functions and their usage. Let us know in the comments how you plan to use them in your spreadsheets!

VLOOKUP, one of Zoho Sheet's most used functions, has helped people create reports or instantly look up values from a data table. The function, though popular, had a few inherent limitations. They threw an error when the referred columns were moved, or if new columns were inserted before them, and could only fetch one specific data field at a time. HLOOKUP, a lesser-used counterpart of the VLOOKUP, and the VLOOKUP function itself, are now getting an upgrade: XLOOKUP.

An addition to these lookup functions, XLOOKUP can help you look data up on a table, by row and column. This successor is a little more comprehensive than both VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP, and are devoid of the limitations they had. From being able to fetch values to the left of the lookup value, to looking up a value from the bottom of the table instead of only being able to lookup a value from the top, the new XLOOKUP function saves you the time you take to rearrange a data table to fit into the function's arguments.

The XLOOKUP function is now available for all our users! View syntax.

You've probably used the MATCH function to identify the position of a data point in a data table. If the MATCH function just wasn't cutting it for you, given the limitations it had, we've got good news: the new and improved XMATCH function is here.

With XMATCH, you get options to match a value when searched from top down, from bottom up, when the list is sorted, or when it's not—all of achieved with a single function! There are a few other points—such as approximation, locating the near smallest or the near biggest value if exact match is not found, and reversing the search order—that differentiate the improved XMATCH from MATCH.

XMATCH is available for all our users— start using it today! View syntax.

Closely following their FILTER counterpart, sort and custom sort features are now available as a formula capsule! If you want to sort by just one column, then SORT might come in handy, and if you are looking to sort a table based on more than one column, then you can use the SORTBY function. View syntax.

Stop repeating the RAND or RANDBETWEEN functions. Create an array of random values with options to specify the range, the highest value and the lowest value of the array, with a single function. You can even choose to populate the array with decimal numbers or whole numbers using Sheet's new RANDARRAY function. View syntax.

SEQUENCE, because not all generated tables need random values. If you need to create a data table with progressive or sequential numbers, then the SEQUENCE function is the way to go. With =SEQUENCE, you can now create uni-dimensional or two-dimensional sequences in a second. View syntax.

Rank values to create astounding dashboards that speak for themselves! RANK.AVG and RANK.EQ differ from each other on how they treat recurring numbers in the list. While RANK.EQ takes the highest rank of the number and maintains it throughout, the RANK.AVG function averages the rank out if the numbers were to occur more than once. View syntax.

These eight new functions are now available for you to use in your Zoho Sheet spreadsheets. We hope that these new functions will help you create finer spreadsheets. Let us know what you think of them and keep an eye on this community space for more interesting updates to come.

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