How to reference a cell on another sheet
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3The basics of pulling a value from another tab into a formula — and the one syntax that changes between apps.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =Summary!B2*Data!C5 | SheetName!Cell. Just type = then click the cell on the other tab and Excel builds it. |
| Google Sheets | =Summary!B2*Data!C5 | Identical. To pull from a different FILE, wrap in IMPORTRANGE (Sheets-only). |
| LibreOffice Calc | =Summary.B2*Data.C5 | LibreOffice uses a DOT (Summary.B2), not an exclamation mark. |
How it works
Any formula can reach other tabs by prefixing the cell with the sheet name: Summary!B2 times Data!C5 gives 12 x 5 = 60. Excel and Google Sheets use SheetName!Cell; LibreOffice uses SheetName.Cell (a dot) — so a workbook saved from one and opened in the other translates the separator automatically, but hand-typed formulas need the right one. Sheet names with spaces go in single quotes: ='Q1 Data'!A1. Referencing a cell in a completely separate FILE needs external links (Excel/LibreOffice) or IMPORTRANGE (Google Sheets only).
Verified, not just documented
We ran =Summary!B2*Data!C5 in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 60 — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.