Excel vs Google Sheets Formula Comparison

Understanding the differences between Excel and Google Sheets formulas can save you hours of debugging. Use this guide to quickly identify syntax differences and platform-specific features.

Excel vs Google Sheets
Comparison Guide

Syntax Comparison

FeatureExcelGoogle Sheets
Function SyntaxVLOOKUP(A2,B:D,3,FALSE)VLOOKUP(A2,B:D,3,FALSE)
Array FormulasCtrl+Shift+EnterARRAYFORMULA()
Text FunctionsCONCATENATE() or &CONCATENATE() or &
Unique FunctionsXLOOKUP, FILTER (365)QUERY, IMPORTRANGE
Date HandlingSerial numbers from 1900Serial numbers from 1899
Cell ReferencesA1 or R1C1 styleA1 style only

Function Availability

FunctionExcelSheetsNotes
XLOOKUP✅❌Excel 365 only
QUERY❌✅Google Sheets exclusive
FILTER✅✅Excel 365+
IMPORTRANGE❌✅
UNIQUE✅✅
SEQUENCE✅✅Excel 365+
LET✅❌Excel 365+
LAMBDA✅✅

Excel Specific Features

Best Practices
  • Use Tables for dynamic ranges
  • Leverage Power Query for data transformation
  • Use Name Manager for complex references
  • Enable iterative calculations for circular references
Common Gotchas
  • • Date Format Differences: 1900 date system
  • • Case Sensitivity: Functions are case-insensitive
  • • Array formulas require Ctrl+Shift+Enter in older versions

Platform-Specific Examples

Dynamic Lookup

Looking up values with error handling

Excel
=XLOOKUP(A2,Table1[ID],Table1[Value],"Not Found")
Excel 365+ Only
Google Sheets
=IFNA(VLOOKUP(A2,A:B,2,FALSE),"Not Found")
Filter Data

Filtering data based on multiple conditions

Excel
=FILTER(A:C,(B:B="Active")*(C:C>100))
Google Sheets
=FILTER(A:C,(B:B="Active")*(C:C>100))
Import Data

Importing data from external sources

Excel
Use Power Query or Get & Transform
Google Sheets
=IMPORTRANGE("sheet_id","Sheet1!A:C")
Database Query

SQL-like querying of data

Excel
Use SUMIFS, COUNTIFS
Google Sheets
=QUERY(A:C,"SELECT A, SUM(C) WHERE B = 'Active' GROUP BY A")
Converting Between Platforms
Excel → Sheets:
  • • Replace XLOOKUP with FILTER or VLOOKUP+IFERROR
  • • Convert array formulas to ARRAYFORMULA()
  • • Replace Power Query with QUERY function
Sheets → Excel:
  • • Replace QUERY with SUMIFS/COUNTIFS combinations
  • • Convert IMPORTRANGE to Power Query connections
  • • Replace ARRAYFORMULA with dynamic arrays (Excel 365)

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