Are Excel and Google Sheets Formulas the Same?

If you've ever copied a formula from Excel into Google Sheets (or the other way around), you may have noticed that sometimes it just works, and sometimes it completely breaks.

Contents:

1. Quick Answer

2. Where Excel and Sheets Formulas Are the Same

3. Where They Differ

3.1 Functions That Exist in One but Not the Other

3.2 Array Formula Syntax

3.3 A Few Functions That Behave Differently

Quick Answer

Excel and Google Sheets share the vast majority of common formulas, so most everyday formulas will transfer without any changes. However, the two applications diverge when it comes to newer or more advanced functions, array formula syntax, and a handful of functions that exist in one platform but not the other.

Where Excel and Sheets Formulas Are the Same

For the most common tasks, the formula syntax is identical. The same function name, the same argument order, the same output.

Functions like SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, COUNTIF, SUMIF, LEFT, RIGHT, MID, LEN, TRIM, and CONCATENATE all work exactly the same way in both applications. If your work lives mostly in these functions, you can move between Excel and Sheets freely.

The basic formula structure is also identical: every formula starts with =, uses the same operator symbols, and references cells the same way (A1, $A$1, A:A, etc.).

Where They Differ

Functions That Exist in One but Not the Other

This is where things get tricky. Each platform has developed its own exclusive functions over time.

Google Sheets has functions Excel doesn't, including GOOGLEFINANCE (pulls live stock data), IMPORTRANGE (pulls data from another Sheets file), and QUERY (runs SQL-style queries on a range).

Excel has functions Sheets doesn't fully support, including several of the newer dynamic array functions like XLOOKUP and LET, depending on which version of Sheets you're using. Sheets has added XLOOKUP support in recent years, but adoption of Excel's newest function library is still lagging.

If your formula uses one of these platform-specific functions, it will return an error when pasted into the other application.

Array Formula Syntax

This is one of the biggest practical differences.

In older Excel (pre-Microsoft 365), you had to press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter an array formula, which wrapped it in {curly braces}. In Google Sheets, you wrap the formula in ARRAYFORMULA() instead.

= ARRAYFORMULA(A1:A10 * B1:B10)

Modern Excel with Microsoft 365 handles dynamic arrays natively, so you just press Enter like a normal formula and it spills automatically. This means the same array logic can look quite different depending on which platform and which version you're writing for. You can read more about how dynamic arrays work in Excel if that's new territory.

A Few Functions That Behave Differently

A small number of functions share the same name but behave slightly differently.

DATEDIF is a good example. It works in both, but it's an undocumented function in Excel and Sheets handles some edge cases differently. SPLIT is another one: Sheets has a native SPLIT function that divides text by a delimiter, while Excel relies on TEXTSPLIT (Microsoft 365 only) or the older Text to Columns tool instead.

The UNIQUE and SORT functions are available in both, but they were introduced in Sheets before Excel added them, so the argument structure has some minor variations worth double-checking.

The Bottom Line

If you're using everyday formulas, you'll have no trouble moving between Excel and Sheets. Where you'll hit walls is with platform-specific functions, array formula syntax differences, and the newest Microsoft 365-only functions that Sheets hasn't caught up to yet. When in doubt, look the function up in the documentation for whichever platform you're moving to.