NUMBERVALUE

Unsupported (not recognized)

Category: Text · Last tested 2026-09-01

Real compatibility results for the NUMBERVALUE 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	No	Yes (Drive import, 2026-08-29)	Unsupported (not recognized)
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 NUMBERVALUE’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 NUMBERVALUE working in Google Sheets?

Google Sheets does not implement NUMBERVALUE: we imported the formula into Sheets on 2026-08-29 and every case came back #NAME? (unrecognized function). Sheets is a rolling service with no version to pin, so this is a statement about the service on that date, and Google’s own function list does not document it either. Rewrite the formula with a documented Sheets equivalent — see the Excel ↔ Sheets equivalents table.

Discovered quirks

=NUMBERVALUE("1234.56",".",",") on Google Sheets returned #NAME?, but the documented/expected result is 1234.56.
Provenance
MISMATCH vs expected: expected 1234.56, got '#NAME?'
=NUMBERVALUE("2.500,27",",",".") on Google Sheets returned #NAME?, but the documented/expected result is 2500.27.
Provenance
Matches Microsoft's own documented example. Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879; MISMATCH vs expected: expected 2500.27, got '#NAME?'
=NUMBERVALUE("abc",".",",") on Google Sheets returned #NAME?, but the documented/expected result is #VALUE!.
Provenance
Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - 'If any of the arguments are not valid, NUMBERVALUE returns the #VALUE! error value'; MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#VALUE!', got '#NAME?'
=NUMBERVALUE("12.34.56",".",",") on Google Sheets returned #NAME?, but the documented/expected result is #VALUE!.
Provenance
Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - decimal separator used multiple times is explicitly called out as an error condition; MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#VALUE!', got '#NAME?'

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
=NUMBERVALUE("1234.56",".",",")	Basic numeric text conversion with explicit US-style decimal_separator and group_separator arguments	1234.56	1234.56	Matched
=NUMBERVALUE("2.500,27",",",".")	European-style formatted number: ',' is passed as decimal_separator and '.' as group_separator, letting NUMBERVALUE parse locale-formatted text regardless of the engine's own locale settings	2500.27	2500.27 Provenance Matches Microsoft's own documented example. Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879	Matched
=NUMBERVALUE("abc",".",",")	Text that cannot be parsed as a number at all -> #VALUE!	#VALUE!	#VALUE! Provenance Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - 'If any of the arguments are not valid, NUMBERVALUE returns the #VALUE! error value'	Matched
=NUMBERVALUE("12.34.56",".",",")	A decimal separator appearing more than once in the text is documented as invalid input -> #VALUE!	#VALUE!	#VALUE! Provenance Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - decimal separator used multiple times is explicitly called out as an error condition	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
=NUMBERVALUE("1234.56",".",",")	Basic numeric text conversion with explicit US-style decimal_separator and group_separator arguments	#NAME?	1234.56	Mismatch
=NUMBERVALUE("2.500,27",",",".")	European-style formatted number: ',' is passed as decimal_separator and '.' as group_separator, letting NUMBERVALUE parse locale-formatted text regardless of the engine's own locale settings	#NAME?	2500.27 Provenance Matches Microsoft's own documented example. Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879	Mismatch
=NUMBERVALUE("abc",".",",")	Text that cannot be parsed as a number at all -> #VALUE!	#NAME?	#VALUE! Provenance Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - 'If any of the arguments are not valid, NUMBERVALUE returns the #VALUE! error value'	Mismatch
=NUMBERVALUE("12.34.56",".",",")	A decimal separator appearing more than once in the text is documented as invalid input -> #VALUE!	#NAME?	#VALUE! Provenance Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - decimal separator used multiple times is explicitly called out as an error condition	Mismatch

LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)

Formula	Description	Result	Expected	Verdict
=NUMBERVALUE("1234.56",".",",")	Basic numeric text conversion with explicit US-style decimal_separator and group_separator arguments	1234.56	1234.56	Matched
=NUMBERVALUE("2.500,27",",",".")	European-style formatted number: ',' is passed as decimal_separator and '.' as group_separator, letting NUMBERVALUE parse locale-formatted text regardless of the engine's own locale settings	2500.27	2500.27 Provenance Matches Microsoft's own documented example. Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879	Matched
=NUMBERVALUE("abc",".",",")	Text that cannot be parsed as a number at all -> #VALUE!	#VALUE!	#VALUE! Provenance Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - 'If any of the arguments are not valid, NUMBERVALUE returns the #VALUE! error value'	Matched
=NUMBERVALUE("12.34.56",".",",")	A decimal separator appearing more than once in the text is documented as invalid input -> #VALUE!	#VALUE!	#VALUE! Provenance Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/numbervalue-function-1b05c8cf-2bfa-4437-af70-596c7ea7d879 - decimal separator used multiple times is explicitly called out as an error condition	Matched

Docs & syntax

Excel (desktop): official documentation
LibreOffice Calc: official documentation

Where NUMBERVALUE behaves differently

NUMBERVALUE works in Excel & LibreOffice but is missing from Google Sheets
NUMBERVALUE (text-to-number with explicit decimal and group separators) is in Excel and executes in LibreOffice, but Google Sheets returns #NAME? — it has no NUMBERVALUE. The Sheets workaround with SUBSTITUTE + VALUE for locale-formatted numbers.

Compared against other functions

VALUE vs NUMBERVALUE: parsing text to numbers, and locales