Natural Join
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Supported formats: .csv,.xlsx,.xls,.xlsm,.xlsb,.tsv
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About Natural Join
Perform SQL-style joins or VLOOKUP between two files.
Pick a key column in each file and a join type (inner, left, right, or outer), and the tool matches rows where the key values are byte-for-byte identical, exactly like a SQL JOIN or an Excel VLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH. Because matching is exact, it is fast and deterministic even on large files, but it requires the key values to already be clean and consistently formatted on both sides.
Category: Transformation & LogicCommon Use Cases
- Looking up customer names into an orders file using a shared customer ID
- Left-joining a product catalog onto a sales export by exact SKU code
- Combining two exported reports that share a precise transaction ID column
Key Features
- Inner, left, right, and outer join modes
- Exact key matching, SQL-style
- VLOOKUP-style single-column lookup mode
If a first pass here leaves unmatched rows because the key spellings differ slightly, rerun those leftovers through Fuzzy Join instead; Smart Merge can then reconcile any remaining overlapping records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Natural Join expects exact key matches (SQL-style join or VLOOKUP-style lookup), while Fuzzy Join tolerates spelling differences.
SQL-style joins and VLOOKUP-style lookups between two files on a matching key column.
The right choice for developers and analysts joining on IDs or codes that are guaranteed to match exactly.
Read the related guide →