Returns the data in a specific column from a data extension in Marketing Cloud Engagement or a marketing object in Marketing Cloud Next. To call this function, you supply the name of the column to search, the value to match, and the column to return.
If your search criteria return more than one result, the system returns the first matching value it finds. For this reason, it’s best to use this function to search for identifiers that are unique within the data extension or marketing object.
AMPscript also includes several functions that you can use to retrieve multiple rows of data from a data extension in Marketing Cloud Engagement.
LookupRows() function.LookupOrderedRows().| Marketing Cloud Engagement | ✅ Yes |
| Marketing Cloud Next | ✅ Yes |
This function became available in Marketing Cloud Next during the Summer ’26 release (API version 67.0).
1Lookup(dataObject,
2 returnColumn,
3 searchColumn1, searchValue1,
4 [searchColumn2, searchValue2...])dataObject (string): Required. The data object that contains the data to look up. In Marketing Cloud Engagement, specify the name of a data extension. In Marketing Cloud Next, specify the API Name of a marketing object.returnColumn (string): Required. The name of the column to return data from.searchColumn1 (string): Required. The name of the column to search. This value is case-sensitive.searchValue1 (string): Required. The value that identifies the rows to retrieve. This value is case-sensitive.In Marketing Cloud Next, an odd number of search arguments returns an error. For each searchColumn value you provide, always include a corresponding searchValue.
Also, all filter keys must fully specify the composite primary key of the target marketing object.
Note
You can optionally append additional search columns and values to the end of the parameter string.
This example uses a data extension called “Regions of Japan,” which contains the data in this table.
| NameEN | NameJA | LargestCityEN | LargestCityJA | Population2020 | AreaKM2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido | 北海道 | Sapporo | 札幌市 | 5400000 | 83000 |
| Tohoku | 東北地方 | Sendai | 仙台市 | 8900000 | 67000 |
| Kanto | 関東地方 | Tokyo | 東京 | 43300000 | 32000 |
| Chubu | 中部地方 | Nagoya | 名古屋市 | 21400000 | 67000 |
| Kansai | 関西地方 | Osaka | 大阪市 | 22500000 | 33000 |
| Chugoku | 中国地方 | Hiroshima | 広島市 | 7300000 | 32000 |
| Shikoku | 四国 | Matsuyama | 松山市 | 3800000 | 19000 |
| Kyushu | 九州 | Fukuoka | 福岡市 | 14300000 | 44000 |
This code searches for a row in which the value of the NameEN column is Kanto. It then returns the value in the NameJA column for that row.
1%%[
2 Var @kantoJA
3 Set @kantoJA = Lookup("Regions of Japan", "NameJA", "NameEN", "Kanto")
4]%%
5<p>The name of the Kanto region in Japanese is %%=v(@kantoJA)=%%.</p>The code example outputs the value of the specified column.
1The name of the Kanto region in Japanese is 関東地方.
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