IFERROR
Quirk foundCategory: Logical · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the IFERROR 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, 2026-08-28) | Quirk found |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when IFERROR’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 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 | 2026-08-28 |
Why isn't IFERROR working in LibreOffice?
IFERROR 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.
externalLinks part; the downloaded one contains two, targeting Nope and NotACell — the literal text arguments of the INDIRECT calls. Excel for the web read 'Nope'!B2 as a reference into a workbook named Nope and could not resolve it, which is why the cell holds 0 rather than #REF!, why ISERROR is FALSE and why ISREF is TRUE. Whether the blank comes from the declined “trust externally linked workbooks” prompt or from an unresolvable external evaluating empty in this engine, this run cannot tell — and both are facts about the link, not about the function. The value is published as it came back and no verdict is drawn from it.
Discovered quirks
-
=IFERROR(INDIRECT("'Nope'!B2"),"missing") on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#REF!, but the documented/expected
result is missing.
Provenance
Microsoft documents IFERROR as returning value_if_error for any of #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME? and #NULL! -- #REF! is explicitly in that list, so the source of the #REF! (a missing sheet name inside INDIRECT) should not matter. Excel function reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-alphabetical-b3944572-255d-4efb-bb96-c6d90033e188; MISMATCH vs expected: expected 'missing', got '#REF!'
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =IFERROR(10/2,"err") | No error: original value passes through unchanged | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =IFERROR(10/0,"err") | #DIV/0! is caught and replaced | err | err | Matched |
| =IFERROR(VLOOKUP("z",A1:B3,2,FALSE),"not found") | Catches #N/A bubbling up from a failed VLOOKUP | not found | not found | Matched |
| =IFERROR(INDEX(A1:A3,10),"bad index") | Catches #REF! from an out-of-bounds INDEX | bad index | bad index | Matched |
| =IFERROR(INDIRECT("'Nope'!B2"),"missing") | INDIRECT pointed at a sheet that does not exist in the workbook raises #REF!; IFERROR is documented as trapping ANY error value, so the fallback text should be returned | 0 | missingProvenanceMicrosoft documents IFERROR as returning value_if_error for any of #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME? and #NULL! -- #REF! is explicitly in that list, so the source of the #REF! (a missing sheet name inside INDIRECT) should not matter. Excel function reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-alphabetical-b3944572-255d-4efb-bb96-c6d90033e188 |
Inconclusive |
| =IFERROR(INDIRECT("NotACell!!"),"bad") | Contrast case: the same IFERROR wrapper around an INDIRECT whose ref_text is simply not a valid reference (see INDIRECT_malformed_ref_error), which also raises #REF! | bad | badProvenanceSame documented rule as IFERROR_indirect_missing_sheet: IFERROR traps #REF! whatever produced it. Excel function reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-alphabetical-b3944572-255d-4efb-bb96-c6d90033e188 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =IFERROR(10/2,"err") | No error: original value passes through unchanged | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =IFERROR(10/0,"err") | #DIV/0! is caught and replaced | err | err | Matched |
| =IFERROR(VLOOKUP("z",A1:B3,2,FALSE),"not found") | Catches #N/A bubbling up from a failed VLOOKUP | not found | not found | Matched |
| =IFERROR(INDEX(A1:A3,10),"bad index") | Catches #REF! from an out-of-bounds INDEX | bad index | bad index | Matched |
| =IFERROR(INDIRECT("'Nope'!B2"),"missing") | INDIRECT pointed at a sheet that does not exist in the workbook raises #REF!; IFERROR is documented as trapping ANY error value, so the fallback text should be returned | missing | missingProvenanceMicrosoft documents IFERROR as returning value_if_error for any of #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME? and #NULL! -- #REF! is explicitly in that list, so the source of the #REF! (a missing sheet name inside INDIRECT) should not matter. Excel function reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-alphabetical-b3944572-255d-4efb-bb96-c6d90033e188 |
Matched |
| =IFERROR(INDIRECT("NotACell!!"),"bad") | Contrast case: the same IFERROR wrapper around an INDIRECT whose ref_text is simply not a valid reference (see INDIRECT_malformed_ref_error), which also raises #REF! | bad | badProvenanceSame documented rule as IFERROR_indirect_missing_sheet: IFERROR traps #REF! whatever produced it. Excel function reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-alphabetical-b3944572-255d-4efb-bb96-c6d90033e188 |
Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-28)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =IFERROR(10/2,"err") | No error: original value passes through unchanged | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =IFERROR(10/0,"err") | #DIV/0! is caught and replaced | err | err | Matched |
| =IFERROR(VLOOKUP("z",A1:B3,2,FALSE),"not found") | Catches #N/A bubbling up from a failed VLOOKUP | not found | not found | Matched |
| =IFERROR(INDEX(A1:A3,10),"bad index") | Catches #REF! from an out-of-bounds INDEX | bad index | bad index | Matched |
| =IFERROR(INDIRECT("'Nope'!B2"),"missing") | INDIRECT pointed at a sheet that does not exist in the workbook raises #REF!; IFERROR is documented as trapping ANY error value, so the fallback text should be returned | #REF! | missingProvenanceMicrosoft documents IFERROR as returning value_if_error for any of #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME? and #NULL! -- #REF! is explicitly in that list, so the source of the #REF! (a missing sheet name inside INDIRECT) should not matter. Excel function reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-alphabetical-b3944572-255d-4efb-bb96-c6d90033e188 |
Mismatch |
| =IFERROR(INDIRECT("NotACell!!"),"bad") | Contrast case: the same IFERROR wrapper around an INDIRECT whose ref_text is simply not a valid reference (see INDIRECT_malformed_ref_error), which also raises #REF! | bad | badProvenanceSame documented rule as IFERROR_indirect_missing_sheet: IFERROR traps #REF! whatever produced it. Excel function reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-functions-alphabetical-b3944572-255d-4efb-bb96-c6d90033e188 |
Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Related how-to recipes
- How to extract numbers from text in a cell
- How to hide formula errors (show 0 or blank instead of #DIV/0!, #N/A)
- How to use IFERROR
Where IFERROR behaves differently
- AGGREGATE works in Excel & LibreOffice but is missing from Google Sheets
AGGREGATE (SUM/AVERAGE/etc. that ignores errors and hidden rows) is in Excel and executes in LibreOffice, but Google Sheets returns #NAME? — it has no AGGREGATE. The Sheets workarounds with SUM(IFERROR) and SUBTOTAL. - Bond and treasury functions after a migration: what actually breaks
Executed across 26 fixed-income functions and 161 cases: ODDFPRICE and ODDFYIELD are literal stubs in LibreOffice, TBILLPRICE prices a two-year bill, INTRATE's default basis loses a day, and MDURATION is wrong on actual/actual. 83 of 84 documented #NUM! cases arrive as #VALUE!. Google Sheets matched 127 of 161. - DGET and MODE.SNGL: #NUM! and #N/A in Excel, #VALUE! in LibreOffice
DGET with two matching rows returns #NUM! in Excel's docs and in executed Google Sheets; MODE.SNGL with no repeats is #N/A in both. LibreOffice Calc returns #VALUE! for each. - DOLLARDE and DOLLARFR: fractional bond prices across engines
Executed: all eight valid DOLLARDE/DOLLARFR conversions match Microsoft's documented values in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 and Google Sheets, including the documented truncation of a non-integer fraction. All four error cases return #VALUE! in LibreOffice where #DIV/0! or #NUM! is documented; Google Sheets returns the documented code. - ERROR.TYPE: LibreOffice returns #N/A where Excel returns 4 and 6
LibreOffice returns #N/A where Excel documents 4 and 6; executed Google Sheets returns 4 and 6 but cannot parse the intersection operator at all. Error-classification logic breaks on migration. - 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?. - FVSCHEDULE: LibreOffice drops text in the rate schedule
Microsoft documents any non-numeric value in FVSCHEDULE's schedule as #VALUE!. Executed, LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 returns 1.09 for =FVSCHEDULE(1,A1:A2) with A2 = "x" - a compounding period silently dropped - while Google Sheets returns #VALUE! as documented. - IFERROR doesn't catch INDIRECT's #REF! in LibreOffice
=IFERROR(INDIRECT("'Nope'!B2"),"missing") returns #REF! instead of the fallback in every LibreOffice Calc build we ran - 24.2.0.3 through 25.8.7.3. Executed Google Sheets returns the fallback. - 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. - #NUM! vs #VALUE!: Excel vs LibreOffice
Domain errors Microsoft documents as #NUM! - LN(0), SQRT(-16), out-of-range LARGE - return #VALUE! in LibreOffice. Google Sheets returns #NUM! on all 16, executed: LibreOffice is alone. - OFFSET off the sheet edge: Excel #REF! vs LibreOffice #VALUE!
OFFSET(A1,-1,0) runs off the top of the sheet: Microsoft documents #REF!, LibreOffice Calc returns #VALUE!. Ordinary OFFSET usage agrees — only the out-of-bounds case forks. - PERCENTRANK significance: Excel truncates, Sheets and LibreOffice round
Executed: PERCENTRANK.INC(A2:A11,4) returns 0.556 in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 and Google Sheets, and 0.555 in Excel for the web, where Microsoft publishes 0.555, and at significance 1 PERCENTRANK.EXC returns 0.4 against a published 0.3. The ranking arithmetic matches everywhere; only the significance step differs, and only on repeating decimals. - VLOOKUP bad column index: Excel #REF! vs LibreOffice #VALUE!
Microsoft documents an out-of-range col_index_num as #REF!; LibreOffice Calc returns #VALUE! instead. The lookup still fails — but every guard written around #REF! stops matching.