MATCH
Supported, behaves as documentedCategory: Lookup and reference · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the MATCH 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 MATCH’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =MATCH("b",A1:A3,0) | match_type 0: exact match, returns 1-based position | 2 | 2 | Matched |
| =MATCH(3,A1:A5,1) | match_type 1 (default): largest value <= lookup, ascending sorted data | 2 | 2ProvenancePosition 2 holds value 2, the largest value <= 3 |
Matched |
| =MATCH(3,A1:A5,-1) | match_type -1: smallest value >= lookup, descending sorted data | 3 | 3ProvenancePosition 3 holds value 4, the smallest value >= 3 in descending data |
Matched |
| =MATCH("z",A1:A3,0) | Exact match with no match -> #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =MATCH("b",A1:A3,0) | match_type 0: exact match, returns 1-based position | 2 | 2 | Matched |
| =MATCH(3,A1:A5,1) | match_type 1 (default): largest value <= lookup, ascending sorted data | 2 | 2ProvenancePosition 2 holds value 2, the largest value <= 3 |
Matched |
| =MATCH(3,A1:A5,-1) | match_type -1: smallest value >= lookup, descending sorted data | 3 | 3ProvenancePosition 3 holds value 4, the smallest value >= 3 in descending data |
Matched |
| =MATCH("z",A1:A3,0) | Exact match with no match -> #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =MATCH("b",A1:A3,0) | match_type 0: exact match, returns 1-based position | 2 | 2 | Matched |
| =MATCH(3,A1:A5,1) | match_type 1 (default): largest value <= lookup, ascending sorted data | 2 | 2ProvenancePosition 2 holds value 2, the largest value <= 3 |
Matched |
| =MATCH(3,A1:A5,-1) | match_type -1: smallest value >= lookup, descending sorted data | 3 | 3ProvenancePosition 3 holds value 4, the smallest value >= 3 in descending data |
Matched |
| =MATCH("z",A1:A3,0) | Exact match with no match -> #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 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 find the cell address of a value
- 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 row number of a value
- How to find the label that goes with the highest value
- How to find the position of the maximum value
- How to use INDEX/MATCH
- 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 MATCH behaves differently
- 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.