IMREAL
Supported, behaves as documentedCategory: Engineering · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the IMREAL 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, 2026-08-31) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| LibreOffice Calc | Yes | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-08-31) | Supported, behaves as documented |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when IMREAL’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-31 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-31 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =IMREAL("6-9i") | Microsoft's documented worked example: the real coefficient of 6-9i | 6 | 6ProvenanceMicrosoft publishes '=IMREAL("6-9i")' with the result 6. Exact and definitional: the real coefficient of x+yi is x. Note the result is a NUMBER, not one of the complex strings the rest of the IM* family returns -- IMREAL and IMAGINARY are the two extractors, and this corpus compares their results numerically rather than as text. |
Matched |
| =IMREAL("4i") | A pure imaginary number, whose real coefficient is zero | 0 | 0ProvenanceExact: 4i parses as 0+4i, so the real coefficient is 0. The mirror of the documented example, and the case that distinguishes "the real part is zero" from "there is no real part" -- the argument is written with no real term at all, exactly as the IM* format prints such numbers. |
Matched |
| =IMREAL("3+4j") | The x+yj form the page also documents | 3 | 3ProvenanceThe page's description says "in x + yi or x + yj text format", so the j suffix is documented. The real coefficient of 3+4j is 3 by the same definition. |
Matched |
Google Sheets (executed 2026-08-31 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =IMREAL("6-9i") | Microsoft's documented worked example: the real coefficient of 6-9i | 6 | 6ProvenanceMicrosoft publishes '=IMREAL("6-9i")' with the result 6. Exact and definitional: the real coefficient of x+yi is x. Note the result is a NUMBER, not one of the complex strings the rest of the IM* family returns -- IMREAL and IMAGINARY are the two extractors, and this corpus compares their results numerically rather than as text. |
Matched |
| =IMREAL("4i") | A pure imaginary number, whose real coefficient is zero | 0 | 0ProvenanceExact: 4i parses as 0+4i, so the real coefficient is 0. The mirror of the documented example, and the case that distinguishes "the real part is zero" from "there is no real part" -- the argument is written with no real term at all, exactly as the IM* format prints such numbers. |
Matched |
| =IMREAL("3+4j") | The x+yj form the page also documents | 3 | 3ProvenanceThe page's description says "in x + yi or x + yj text format", so the j suffix is documented. The real coefficient of 3+4j is 3 by the same definition. |
Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-31)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =IMREAL("6-9i") | Microsoft's documented worked example: the real coefficient of 6-9i | 6 | 6ProvenanceMicrosoft publishes '=IMREAL("6-9i")' with the result 6. Exact and definitional: the real coefficient of x+yi is x. Note the result is a NUMBER, not one of the complex strings the rest of the IM* family returns -- IMREAL and IMAGINARY are the two extractors, and this corpus compares their results numerically rather than as text. |
Matched |
| =IMREAL("4i") | A pure imaginary number, whose real coefficient is zero | 0 | 0ProvenanceExact: 4i parses as 0+4i, so the real coefficient is 0. The mirror of the documented example, and the case that distinguishes "the real part is zero" from "there is no real part" -- the argument is written with no real term at all, exactly as the IM* format prints such numbers. |
Matched |
| =IMREAL("3+4j") | The x+yj form the page also documents | 3 | 3ProvenanceThe page's description says "in x + yi or x + yj text format", so the j suffix is documented. The real coefficient of 3+4j is 3 by the same definition. |
Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation