Can I Spreadsheet?
← All how-to recipes

How to sum the same cell across multiple sheets (3D reference)

✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 ✓ Verified in Google Sheets (2026-08-30)

Total one cell (like B2) from every monthly tab at once — the classic workbook roll-up.

The formula

AppFormulaNotes
Excel (desktop)=SUM(Jan:Dec!B2)A 3D reference: first sheet : last sheet ! cell. Sums that cell on every tab in between.
Google Sheets=Jan!B2+Feb!B2+Mar!B2Google Sheets has NO 3D references — you must add each sheet explicitly (or use a helper).
LibreOffice Calc=SUM(Jan.B2:Dec.B2)LibreOffice supports 3D refs with dot syntax: SUM(First.Cell:Last.Cell).

How it works

A 3D reference sums one cell across a span of tabs: =SUM(Jan:Dec!B2) adds B2 from January through December — reorder or insert tabs between the endpoints and they're automatically included. The big cross-app catch: 3D references exist in Excel and LibreOffice but NOT Google Sheets, where you must add each sheet by hand (=Jan!B2+Feb!B2+...) or restructure the data. The verification adds B2 across three real tabs (the portable per-sheet form) and confirms 600.

Verified, not just documented

We ran =Jan!B2+Feb!B2+Mar!B2 in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 600 — exactly the expected result. We then ran the same formulas in Google Sheets, executed 2026-08-30: a formula-only workbook goes into Google Drive, which converts it to a Sheet and recalculates every formula with Google’s own engine, and comes back out as .xlsx carrying the values Google computed. It returned 600 for the worked example, the same value LibreOffice produced. Both engines’ numbers on this page are executed results. The Excel formula follows Microsoft’s official documented syntax — we do not run desktop Excel.

Functions used

SUM — see full Excel, Google Sheets & LibreOffice compatibility for each.

Related recipes

Related comparisons