RANDARRAY
Supported, behaves as documentedCategory: Math and trigonometry · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the RANDARRAY 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.
RANDARRAY under every LibreOffice release we test
(24.2.0.3, 24.8.7.2, 25.2.0.3, 25.8.7.3):
it returned #NAME? (unrecognized) in 24.2.0.3 and first works in 24.8.7.2.
If you need RANDARRAY in LibreOffice Calc, use 24.8.7.2 or newer.
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 RANDARRAY’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Unsupported (not recognized) | 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 RANDARRAY working in LibreOffice?
If RANDARRAY returns a #NAME? error in LibreOffice Calc, you are
almost certainly running a release older than 24.8.7.2 — that is exactly
what our executed tests show: #NAME? in 24.2.0.3, working from
24.8.7.2 onward. Check your version under Help → About LibreOffice and upgrade to
24.8.7.2 or newer; no setting or extension enables it in older releases. (Other causes of this
error: see the error values guide.)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROWS(RANDARRAY(2,3))*10+COLUMNS(RANDARRAY(2,3)) | Values are random but the requested shape is not: a 2x3 RANDARRAY must have 2 rows and 3 columns (encoded as 23) | 23 | 23 | Matched |
| =AND(MIN(RANDARRAY(10,10))>=0,MAX(RANDARRAY(10,10))<1) | With no min/max arguments, every value is a decimal in [0,1) — deterministic bounds on non-deterministic values | True | True | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROWS(RANDARRAY(2,3))*10+COLUMNS(RANDARRAY(2,3)) | Values are random but the requested shape is not: a 2x3 RANDARRAY must have 2 rows and 3 columns (encoded as 23) | 23 | 23 | Matched |
| =AND(MIN(RANDARRAY(10,10))>=0,MAX(RANDARRAY(10,10))<1) | With no min/max arguments, every value is a decimal in [0,1) — deterministic bounds on non-deterministic values | True | True | Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROWS(RANDARRAY(2,3))*10+COLUMNS(RANDARRAY(2,3)) | Values are random but the requested shape is not: a 2x3 RANDARRAY must have 2 rows and 3 columns (encoded as 23) | 23 | 23 | Matched |
| =AND(MIN(RANDARRAY(10,10))>=0,MAX(RANDARRAY(10,10))<1) | With no min/max arguments, every value is a decimal in [0,1) — deterministic bounds on non-deterministic values | True | True | Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Where RANDARRAY behaves differently
- Which LibreOffice version for VSTACK, TEXTSPLIT, TAKE & DROP?
VSTACK, HSTACK, TEXTSPLIT, TAKE and DROP return #NAME? in LibreOffice 24.2, 24.8 and 25.2 - our executed runs show all fourteen working only from 25.8.7.3. Full version map by wave.