AVERAGE
Supported, behaves as documentedCategory: Statistical · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the AVERAGE function: executed in Excel for the web, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc, with desktop Excel behavior from Microsoft’s official documentation (we do not run desktop Excel — Excel for the web is a different application and is executed separately). Syntax and links to that documentation are below.
Support matrix
| Engine | Documented | Live-tested | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel (desktop) | Yes | No — documented only | n/a |
| Excel for the web | — | Yes (recalc, 2026-09-01) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| Google Sheets | Yes | Yes (Drive import, 2026-08-29) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| LibreOffice Calc | Yes | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-07-29) | Supported, behaves as documented |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when AVERAGE’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-29 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-07-29 |
Executed test cases
Excel for the web (executed 2026-09-01 via OneDrive recalculation)
These values come from Excel for the web, not from desktop Excel. They are two different implementations of the calculation engine, and this run measured only the web one: the corpus was uploaded to OneDrive as .xlsx, recalculated by Excel for the web on open, and downloaded again for readback. Excel for the web is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so the run is identified by its date. Where a value here disagrees with the Expected column — which is Microsoft’s documentation of the desktop product — we cannot tell you whether the web engine diverges from the desktop one or the documentation is wrong about both, because we do not run desktop Excel.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =AVERAGE(A1:A4) | Basic average of 4 numbers | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A5) | Text values and blank cells in the range are excluded from both the sum and the count, rather than being treated as 0 | 20 | 20ProvenanceOnly A1, A3, A5 (10, 20, 30) are numeric; average = 60/3 = 20. If blanks/text counted as 0 the result would be 12 |
Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A3) | A range containing only text has zero numeric values to average -> #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A3) | A fully empty range also has zero numeric values -> #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | Matched |
Google Sheets (executed 2026-08-29 via Drive import)
Google Sheets is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so this run is identified by its date. The corpus was imported to Drive as .xlsx, recalculated by Sheets, and exported back for readback.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =AVERAGE(A1:A4) | Basic average of 4 numbers | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A5) | Text values and blank cells in the range are excluded from both the sum and the count, rather than being treated as 0 | 20 | 20ProvenanceOnly A1, A3, A5 (10, 20, 30) are numeric; average = 60/3 = 20. If blanks/text counted as 0 the result would be 12 |
Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A3) | A range containing only text has zero numeric values to average -> #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A3) | A fully empty range also has zero numeric values -> #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =AVERAGE(A1:A4) | Basic average of 4 numbers | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A5) | Text values and blank cells in the range are excluded from both the sum and the count, rather than being treated as 0 | 20 | 20ProvenanceOnly A1, A3, A5 (10, 20, 30) are numeric; average = 60/3 = 20. If blanks/text counted as 0 the result would be 12 |
Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A3) | A range containing only text has zero numeric values to average -> #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | Matched |
| =AVERAGE(A1:A3) | A fully empty range also has zero numeric values -> #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! | Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Related how-to recipes
- How to average a range of times
- How to average a range that contains errors
- How to average the top N scores (drop the lowest)
- How to average the last N values in a growing column
- How to calculate a moving average
- How to calculate a z-score
- How to calculate the coefficient of variation
- How to count cells above the average
Where AVERAGE behaves differently
- MAXA, MINA, AVERAGEA, VARPA vs MAX, MIN, AVERAGE, VAR.P
The A-variants count text as 0 and TRUE as 1; the plain ones ignore them. Executed: LibreOffice implements all four A-variants faithfully, but its VAR.P returns 8.2222 on {4, 8, TRUE} where Microsoft documents 4 and Google Sheets returns 4 - a silent wrong number in all four builds tested.