VLOOKUP Equivalent (First Match) in Power Query M

Looks up a value from a second table by key and returns only the first matching value, like Excel's VLOOKUP.

Comparing & LookupsBeginnervlookuplookupmergeexcel equivalent

Power Query M code

let
    Source = YourTable,
    Merged = Table.NestedJoin(Source, {"ID"}, LookupTable, {"ID"}, "LookupMatch", JoinKind.LeftOuter),
    Expanded = Table.ExpandTableColumn(Merged, "LookupMatch", {"LookupValue"}, {"LookupValue"})
in
    Expanded

Notes

Table.NestedJoin with ExpandTableColumn naturally returns just the first match's value per row, matching VLOOKUP's default behavior.

Requirements

A lookup table with a matching key column.

How to use this snippet

In Power BI Desktop, choose Transform data to open Power Query, then open the Advanced Editor on a query (or start from a blank query).
Paste the snippet and replace the placeholder names (tables, columns, file paths) with your own. Check the requirements above first.
Run it through the Power Query M Formatter to tidy the layout.

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