SMALL
Quirk foundCategory: Statistical · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the SMALL 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) | Quirk found |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when SMALL’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-29 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Quirk found | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Quirk found | 2026-07-29 |
Why isn't SMALL working in LibreOffice?
SMALL exists in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3, but it is not a drop-in match for
Excel — our executed tests found real behavioral differences (detailed in the test results on this
page). If a formula that works in Excel or Google Sheets misbehaves in LibreOffice, compare your usage
against the failing cases above before assuming your data is wrong.
Discovered quirks
-
=SMALL(A1:A5,6) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
Only 5 values exist; requesting the 6th-smallest is out of range; MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#NUM!', got '#VALUE!'
-
=SMALL(A1:A3,0) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#NUM!', got '#VALUE!'
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =SMALL(A1:A5,2) | 2nd smallest value in the range | 3 | 3 | Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A5,1) | k=1 returns the same value as MIN | 1 | 1 | Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A5,6) | k larger than the count of values -> #NUM! | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceOnly 5 values exist; requesting the 6th-smallest is out of range |
Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A3,0) | k=0 is also out of the valid 1..n range -> #NUM! | #NUM! | #NUM! | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =SMALL(A1:A5,2) | 2nd smallest value in the range | 3 | 3 | Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A5,1) | k=1 returns the same value as MIN | 1 | 1 | Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A5,6) | k larger than the count of values -> #NUM! | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceOnly 5 values exist; requesting the 6th-smallest is out of range |
Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A3,0) | k=0 is also out of the valid 1..n range -> #NUM! | #NUM! | #NUM! | Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =SMALL(A1:A5,2) | 2nd smallest value in the range | 3 | 3 | Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A5,1) | k=1 returns the same value as MIN | 1 | 1 | Matched |
| =SMALL(A1:A5,6) | k larger than the count of values -> #NUM! | #VALUE! | #NUM!ProvenanceOnly 5 values exist; requesting the 6th-smallest is out of range |
Mismatch |
| =SMALL(A1:A3,0) | k=0 is also out of the valid 1..n range -> #NUM! | #VALUE! | #NUM! | Mismatch |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Where SMALL behaves differently
- Every error code LibreOffice reports as #VALUE!
Across our 2,334-case executed corpus, 272 cases in 135 functions return #VALUE! in LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 where Microsoft documents #NUM! (244), #N/A (15), #DIV/0! (10) or #REF! (3). Google Sheets returns the documented code on 239 of the 249 it has a function for. Identical in all four LibreOffice builds tested. - #NUM! vs #VALUE!: Excel vs LibreOffice
Domain errors Microsoft documents as #NUM! - LN(0), SQRT(-16), out-of-range LARGE - return #VALUE! in LibreOffice. Google Sheets returns #NUM! on all 16, executed: LibreOffice is alone.