Are Excel formulas and Google Spreadsheet formulas the same?

Question

I want to be sure all my Google Spreadsheet work can be converted OK to Excel. How many of the Excel formulas match the formulas of Google spreadsheets?

Answer 1

Almost all formulas are same in Microsoft Excel and Google Spreadsheet.

There are both pros and cons when it comes to other features. So make sure before you start migrating, you need to sure to what extent you need to use the Google Docs.

Here are few links that will help you in understanding pros and cons.

http://goo.gl/lOKLk

Answer 2

If you're only worried about formulas, it shouldn't be a big problem, as Google Spreadsheets is now mature enough to support all the typical spreadsheet functions. It might be that the names are not exactly the same, or that some of them have to be done in a different way. So unless you're using some obscure stuff, you should be okay. I suggest you get a list of all the functions being used on your Excel Spreadsheets and then try them in Google Docs.

Also, if you're using any VB macros, you can forget about Google Docs.

Answer 3

I bashed up a comparison sheet for the formula's between MS Excel 2010 and Google Spreadsheet. Comparison was based on the names only. See snapshot of the current situation:

If you want to make sure that Google Spreadsheet files are properly converted and still work in MS Excel 2010, then don't use the following formula's:

ADD
ARRAYFORMULA
CONCAT
CONTINUE
COUNTUNIQUE
DetectLanguage
DIVIDE
EQ
EXPAND
FILTER
GoogleClock
GoogleFinance
GoogleLookup
GoogleTournament
GoogleTranslate
GREATER THAN
GTE
IMAGE
ImportData
ImportFeed
ImportHtml
ImportRange
ImportXML
JOIN
LT
LTE
MINUS
MULTIPLY
NE
NOEXPAND
POW
QUERY
REGEXEXTRACT
REGEXMATCH
REGEXREPLACE
SORT
Sparkline
SPLIT
TO_DATE
TO_DOLLARS
TO_PERCENT
TO_PURE_NUMBER
TO_TEXT
UMINUS
UNARY_PERCENT
UNIQUE
UPLUS

Rerence: MS EXCEL vs. GOOGLE SPREADSHEET