FILTER
Quirk foundCategory: Lookup and reference · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the FILTER 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) | Quirk found |
| Google Sheets | Yes | Yes (Drive import, 2026-08-29) | Quirk found |
| LibreOffice Calc | Yes | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-07-29) | Quirk found |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when FILTER’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Unsupported (not recognized) | 2026-08-29 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Quirk found | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Quirk found | 2026-07-29 |
Why isn't FILTER working in LibreOffice?
FILTER exists in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3, but it is not a drop-in match for
Excel — our executed tests found real behavioral differences (detailed in the test results on this
page). If a formula that works in Excel or Google Sheets misbehaves in LibreOffice, compare your usage
against the failing cases above before assuming your data is wrong.
Why isn’t FILTER working in Google Sheets?
FILTER runs in Google Sheets, but our executed cases show it does not match
Excel’s documented behavior on every input (the failing cases are listed on this page). If a
formula that behaves one way in Excel gives you a different answer in Sheets, compare your usage
against those cases before assuming your data is wrong.
Discovered quirks
-
=FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100) on
Excel for the web returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #CALC!.
Provenance
MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#CALC!', got '#VALUE!'
-
=FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100,"none") on
Google Sheets returned
#N/A, but the documented/expected
result is none.
Provenance
MISMATCH vs expected: expected 'none', got '#N/A'
-
=FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100) on
Google Sheets returned
#N/A, but the documented/expected
result is #CALC!.
Provenance
MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#CALC!', got '#N/A'
-
=FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#N/A, but the documented/expected
result is #CALC!.
Provenance
MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#CALC!', got '#N/A'
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =FILTER(A1:A5,B1:B5>2) | Spill the subset of A1:A5 where the paired B value is >2 | {c, d, e} | {c, d, e} | Matched |
| =FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100,"none") | if_empty argument is returned when no rows match | none | none | Matched |
| =FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100) | No if_empty and no matches raises #CALC! | #VALUE! | #CALC! | Mismatch |
| =FILTER(A1:B3,A1:A3>1) | Filtering a 2-column range by a condition on the first column | {2, y, 3, z} | {{2, y}, {3, z}} | Matched |
| =FILTER({1,2,3,4},{1,0,1,0}) | Filtering an inline array literal by an inline boolean/number mask | {1, 3} | {1, 3} | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =FILTER(A1:A5,B1:B5>2) | Spill the subset of A1:A5 where the paired B value is >2 | {c, d, e} | {c, d, e} | Matched |
| =FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100,"none") | if_empty argument is returned when no rows match | #N/A | none | Mismatch |
| =FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100) | No if_empty and no matches raises #CALC! | #N/A | #CALC! | Mismatch |
| =FILTER(A1:B3,A1:A3>1) | Filtering a 2-column range by a condition on the first column | {2, y, 3, z} | {{2, y}, {3, z}} | Matched |
| =FILTER({1,2,3,4},{1,0,1,0}) | Filtering an inline array literal by an inline boolean/number mask | {1, 3} | {1, 3} | Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =FILTER(A1:A5,B1:B5>2) | Spill the subset of A1:A5 where the paired B value is >2 | {c, d, e} | {c, d, e} | Matched |
| =FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100,"none") | if_empty argument is returned when no rows match | none | none | Matched |
| =FILTER(A1:A3,B1:B3>100) | No if_empty and no matches raises #CALC! | #N/A | #CALC! | Mismatch |
| =FILTER(A1:B3,A1:A3>1) | Filtering a 2-column range by a condition on the first column | {2, y, 3, z} | {{2, y}, {3, z}} | Matched |
| =FILTER({1,2,3,4},{1,0,1,0}) | Filtering an inline array literal by an inline boolean/number mask | {1, 3} | {1, 3} | Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Related how-to recipes
- How to average a range that contains errors
- How to count unique values that match a condition
- How to FILTER by multiple criteria (AND / OR)
- How to find values that appear in both of two lists
- How to use the FILTER function
- How to calculate a median with a condition (MEDIANIF)
- How to remove blank cells from a list
- How to return ALL matches, not just the first (VLOOKUP for multiple results)
- How to return the entire row of a match
- How to sum a column that contains errors
Where FILTER behaves differently
- Which LibreOffice version for VSTACK, TEXTSPLIT, TAKE & DROP?
VSTACK, HSTACK, TEXTSPLIT, TAKE and DROP return #NAME? in LibreOffice 24.2, 24.8 and 25.2 - our executed runs show all fourteen working only from 25.8.7.3. Full version map by wave. - FILTER no match: Excel #CALC! vs LibreOffice #N/A
An empty FILTER is #CALC! in Excel but #N/A in LibreOffice, and TEXTAFTER's fallback still errors. Executed Google Sheets has no TEXTBEFORE/TEXTAFTER at all - it returns #NAME?. - Every error code LibreOffice reports as #VALUE!
Across our 2,334-case executed corpus, 272 cases in 135 functions return #VALUE! in LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 where Microsoft documents #NUM! (244), #N/A (15), #DIV/0! (10) or #REF! (3). Google Sheets returns the documented code on 239 of the 249 it has a function for. Identical in all four LibreOffice builds tested. - Your function exists but your file cannot say so: _xlfn storage tokens
Executed: eight IM* functions LibreOffice implements return #NAME? on all four builds because it cannot read Excel's _xlfn. token for them, while COT and CSC only work under that same prefix. Eleven LibreOffice aliases are erased by its own exporter, and a token change between 24.2 and 24.8 makes a 24.8-written file open as #NAME? in 24.2. - openpyxl and _xlfn.XLOOKUP: why your XLOOKUP opens as #NAME?
openpyxl writes formula text verbatim, so =XLOOKUP(...) is stored in the .xlsx under its plain name. Executed 2026-09-12: that cell is #NAME? in Excel for the web and in all four pinned LibreOffice builds, while =_xlfn.XLOOKUP(...) returns 20 in Excel for the web and in LibreOffice 24.8, 25.2 and 25.8.