What happens to new formulae (LET, IFS, etc.) when the workbook is opened in older versions of Excel

[Gary_Miller]

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?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

@Gary_Miller

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:

 

[#3]

@Hans Vogelaar Thanks for this clear explanation, Hans :thumbs_up: