Forum Discussion
What happens to new formulae (LET, IFS, etc.) when the workbook is opened in older versions of Excel
Hello, I want to use the latest functions, LET, IFS, etc., but I want to know what happens if they are opened in older versions of Excel. Some of the people I work with use Windows through thin clients and don't have the newest version installed, and have no control over that. I think they use 2016. Will cells show their values, a static formulas (like a string) or an error?
Formulas that use functions that are not available in the older version will still display their result.
In the formula bar, such functions will be prefixed with =_xlfn.
In the screenshot below, I opened a workbook that uses XLOOKUP in Excel 2019 (the non-Microsoft 365 version).
The result will survive recalculating the worksheet, but when I edit the cell and confirm it, the result will change to #NAME! since Excel 2019 can't perform XLOOKUP:
2 Replies
Formulas that use functions that are not available in the older version will still display their result.
In the formula bar, such functions will be prefixed with =_xlfn.
In the screenshot below, I opened a workbook that uses XLOOKUP in Excel 2019 (the non-Microsoft 365 version).
The result will survive recalculating the worksheet, but when I edit the cell and confirm it, the result will change to #NAME! since Excel 2019 can't perform XLOOKUP:
HansVogelaar Thanks for this clear explanation, Hans 👍
