SEARCH
Supported, behaves as documentedCategory: Text · Last tested 2026-08-06
Real, executed compatibility results for the SEARCH function across Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc — verified by actually running it. Syntax and links to each vendor’s official documentation are below.
Support matrix
| Engine | Documented | Live-tested | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel | Yes | Not yet | n/a |
| Google Sheets | Yes | Not yet | n/a |
| LibreOffice Calc | Yes | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-08-06) | Supported, behaves as documented |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when SEARCH’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-07-19 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-07-19 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-07-24 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-06 |
Executed test cases
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-06)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =SEARCH("a","Apple") | SEARCH is case-insensitive: lowercase 'a' matches the leading uppercase 'A' -> position 1 (contrast with FIND on this exact same input, which is case-sensitive and returns #VALUE!) | 1 | 1 Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/search-function-9ab04538-0e55-4719-a72e-b6f54513b495 - SEARCH is not case-sensitive |
Matched |
| =SEARCH("p*e","Apple") | SEARCH supports wildcards unlike FIND: '*' matches any sequence of characters, so "p*e" matches the substring "pple" starting at position 2 | 2 | 2 Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/search-function-9ab04538-0e55-4719-a72e-b6f54513b495 - SEARCH allows the wildcard characters '?' and '*' in find_text; FIND does not support wildcards at all |
Matched |
| =SEARCH("?pple","Apple") | '?' wildcard matches exactly one character, so "?pple" matches "Apple" starting at position 1 | 1 | 1 | Matched |
| =SEARCH("z","Apple") | find_text not present anywhere in within_text -> #VALUE! | #VALUE! | #VALUE! | Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel: official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation