SUBSTITUTE

Supported, behaves as documented

Category: Text · Last tested 2026-08-06

Real, executed compatibility results for the SUBSTITUTE 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 SUBSTITUTE’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
=SUBSTITUTE("a-b-a-b","a","X")	Without instance_num, every occurrence of old_text is replaced	X-b-X-b	X-b-X-b	Matched
=SUBSTITUTE("a-b-a-b","a","X",2)	instance_num=2 replaces only the 2nd occurrence of old_text, leaving the 1st untouched	a-b-X-b	a-b-X-b	Matched
=SUBSTITUTE("hello","z","X")	old_text not present in text returns the text unchanged	hello	hello	Matched
=SUBSTITUTE("Apple","a","X")	SUBSTITUTE matches old_text case-sensitively; lowercase 'a' does not match the uppercase 'A' in "Apple", so the text is returned unchanged	Apple	Apple	Matched

Docs & syntax

Excel: official documentation
Google Sheets: official documentation
LibreOffice Calc: official documentation