You just switched to LibreOffice Calc. You feel good about saving money on subscriptions. You open a spreadsheet, type =XLOOKUP, and… nothing. Just a #NAME? error.
For millions of “Excel Refugees,” XLOOKUP is the hardest habit to break. It is the Swiss Army knife of formulas, and losing it feels like going back to the Stone Age.
Often, macros break because they reference functions that don’t behave the same way. Ensure you are using the correct lookup functions in your sheet first fixing XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP errors.
The good news? As of late 2024, LibreOffice does support XLOOKUP—but only if you are on the right version. If you are stuck on an older version (or your corporate IT won’t let you update), you need a workaround.
Here are the three ways to fix the XLOOKUP crisis in LibreOffice Calc.
Method 1: The Permanent Fix (Update LibreOffice)
If you are running LibreOffice 7.x or early 24.x, you are missing out. The developers finally added native XLOOKUP support in LibreOffice 24.8 (released August 2024).
How to check your version:
- Go to Help > About LibreOffice.
- Look for the version number.
- If it is lower than 24.8, download the latest update from the official site.
Note: Once updated, =XLOOKUP() will work exactly like it does in Excel. No new learning required.
Method 2: The “Power User” Alternative (INDEX & MATCH)
If you cannot update (e.g., you are on a locked work computer), you need the INDEX and MATCH combo. This is actually more powerful than VLOOKUP and was the pro standard before XLOOKUP existed.
The Formula: =INDEX(Return_Column, MATCH(Lookup_Value, Lookup_Column, 0))
Real World Example: You want to find a Price (Column C) for a specific Product ID (Cell E2) located in Column A.
- Excel XLOOKUP:
=XLOOKUP(E2, A:A, C:C) - LibreOffice Alternative:
=INDEX(C:C, MATCH(E2, A:A, 0))
Why it works:
- MATCH finds the row number of the Product ID.
- INDEX goes to that row in the Price column and grabs the value.
- The
0at the end ensures an exact match (crucial!).
Instead of writing complex VBA loops to deduplicate data, you can often trigger built-in filters to do the heavy lifting how to filter for unique records natively.
Method 3: The “Classic” Fallback (VLOOKUP)
If INDEX/MATCH feels too complicated, VLOOKUP is available in every version of LibreOffice ever made. It has limitations (it can’t look to the left), but for simple lists, it works.
The Formula: =VLOOKUP(Lookup_Value, Table_Array, Column_Index_Number, 0)
Crucial Tweak for Excel Users: In Excel, you might get away with leaving off the last zero. In LibreOffice Calc, you must type the 0 (or FALSE) at the end, otherwise, it assumes you want an “approximate match,” which will give you the wrong data 90% of the time.