INDEX
Quirk foundCategory: Lookup and reference · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the INDEX 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) | Quirk found |
| 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 INDEX’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 |
Why isn’t INDEX working in Google Sheets?
INDEX 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
-
=INDEX(A1:A3,10) on
Google Sheets returned
#NUM!, but the documented/expected
result is #REF!.
Provenance
MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#REF!', got '#NUM!'
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =INDEX(A1:A5,3) | 1-D array, single row-number argument | 30 | 30 | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:C3,2,2) | 2-D range, row+column arguments | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:C3,0,2) | row_num=0 returns the entire column as a spilled array | {2, 5, 8} | {2, 5, 8} | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:A3,10) | Row number beyond the range -> #REF! | #REF! | #REF! | Matched |
| =INDEX(B1:B3,MATCH("b",A1:A3,0)) | Classic INDEX/MATCH pattern used as a VLOOKUP replacement | 2 | 2 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =INDEX(A1:A5,3) | 1-D array, single row-number argument | 30 | 30 | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:C3,2,2) | 2-D range, row+column arguments | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:C3,0,2) | row_num=0 returns the entire column as a spilled array | {2, 5.0, 8.0} | {2, 5, 8} | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:A3,10) | Row number beyond the range -> #REF! | #NUM! | #REF! | Mismatch |
| =INDEX(B1:B3,MATCH("b",A1:A3,0)) | Classic INDEX/MATCH pattern used as a VLOOKUP replacement | 2 | 2 | Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =INDEX(A1:A5,3) | 1-D array, single row-number argument | 30 | 30 | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:C3,2,2) | 2-D range, row+column arguments | 5 | 5 | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:C3,0,2) | row_num=0 returns the entire column as a spilled array | {2, 5, 8} | {2, 5, 8} | Matched |
| =INDEX(A1:A3,10) | Row number beyond the range -> #REF! | #REF! | #REF! | Matched |
| =INDEX(B1:B3,MATCH("b",A1:A3,0)) | Classic INDEX/MATCH pattern used as a VLOOKUP replacement | 2 | 2 | Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Related how-to recipes
- How to do a case-sensitive lookup
- How to look up the closest match (tax brackets, tiers, grades)
- How to find the most common text value (mode for text)
- How to find the label that goes with the highest value
- How to use INDEX/MATCH
- How to pick a random item from a list
- How to look up a value by both row and column (two-way lookup)
- How to VLOOKUP to the left (return a value from a column before the match)
Where INDEX behaves differently
- 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. - 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.