SUM

Quirk found

Category: Math and trigonometry · Last tested 2026-08-06

Real, executed compatibility results for the SUM 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)	Quirk found

LibreOffice version history

We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when SUM’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.

LibreOffice version	Verdict	Tested
24.2.0.3	Quirk found	2026-07-19
24.8.7.2	Quirk found	2026-07-19
25.2.0.3	Quirk found	2026-07-24
25.8.7.3	Quirk found	2026-08-06

Why isn't SUM working in LibreOffice?

SUM 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

=SUM(1,"2",3) on LibreOffice Calc returned #VALUE!, but the documented/expected result is 6. Contrast with SUM_text_in_cell_reference_ignored: Excel coerces literal string arguments that look like numbers when they are typed directly into the formula, but does not do so for text found inside a range reference; MISMATCH vs expected: expected 6, got '#VALUE!'

Executed test cases

LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-06)

Formula	Description	Result	Expected	Verdict
=SUM(A1:A5)	Basic sum of a contiguous numeric range	15	15	Matched
=SUM(A1:A3)	A text value stored in a referenced cell is IGNORED by SUM, not coerced to a number, even though it looks numeric	4	4 A2 holds the text string '2' (not the number 2); SUM over a range skips text cells entirely, so the total is 1+3=4, not 6	Matched
=SUM(1,"2",3)	A numeric-looking TEXT LITERAL passed directly as a function argument (not via a cell reference) IS coerced to a number, unlike the same text sitting in a referenced cell	#VALUE!	6 Contrast with SUM_text_in_cell_reference_ignored: Excel coerces literal string arguments that look like numbers when they are typed directly into the formula, but does not do so for text found inside a range reference	Mismatch
=SUM(A1:A3)	Summing an entirely empty range returns 0, not an error	0	0	Matched

Docs & syntax

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

SUM