Upload a workbook, get it back ready for the other product, with the proof inside
What happens to your formulas, how to read the report, and the two settings you might need.
Why not just copy the formulas?
=SORT(A2:B9,1,-1)=SORT(A2:B9,1,FALSE)-1 sorts descending. Google Sheets reads -1 as TRUE, which means ascending. Copied across, this formula sorts the wrong way, and nothing tells you.Most formulas work the same in both products. Some are written differently, and a few give a different answer with no error at all. SheetSure works out what each formula means and writes it the way the other product needs, so the result stays the same.
Every difference we've measured, with the rewrite for each.
Reading your report
- As is
- Nothing to do.
- Rewritten
- Nothing to do. The note says what changed.
- Review
- Take a look once the file is open. The note says why.
- Redo by hand
- Recreate it by hand. The report says what; until then it keeps its value.
- No equivalent
- Nothing you can do in the other product. It keeps its value, so formulas that read it still work.
- Unreadable
- It keeps its value. Tell us with “This result is wrong”.
The Report tab in your file
The file you download has one extra tab, named SheetSure report. Once the other product opens the file, the tab compares every converted cell with the value the original calculated, and sums it up in one line, like “Live checks: 1916 of 1916 cells match Excel; 0 differ.” That line is calculated by Google Sheets or Excel itself, inside your file.
Below it, one row per cell: its status, the result it should have, the result it has, and whether they match.
If something doesn't match
One cell that differs makes every formula that reads it differ too. Upload the file back to check the result (below), and the cells where a difference starts are listed first, marked “start here”: fixing those usually fixes the rest. Often the cause is a setting, and the check says which.
Two settings you may need
The locale
Month names, dates written as text and decimal commas follow the Sheet's locale, and Google's import uses yours, not the author's. We detect the right one: File → Settings → Locale.
Iterative calculation
A model that calculates in circles shows #REF! until this is on. Same dialog, Calculation → Iterative calculation, with the values we give you.
Check the result (optional)
Want our check too? After the file opens in the other product, download it again from Google Sheets (File → Download → Microsoft Excel) or save it in Excel, and upload it on the convert page. We read the results it calculated and list every cell that differs. Nothing is kept between the two uploads, and checking doesn't count towards your 10 a day.
Under the hood
The five steps, and what isn't compared
- 1Read
Read the formula the way Excel reads it.
SORT(A2:B9,1,-1) - 2Understand
Work out what it means, independent of either product.
SORT├ range A2:B9├ column 1└ order: descending - 3Write
Write it the way the other product needs.
=SORT(A2:B9,1,FALSE) - 4Rebuild
Put the formulas back in a workbook, with the rest of the file.
values · formats · rules · charts · filters · comments - 5Check
Compare each result with the value the original calculated.
Sheets = Excel?Match
=SORT(A2:B9,1,-1) as the example: the formula is read, its meaning recorded, then written for Google Sheets as =SORT(A2:B9,1,FALSE). The workbook is rebuilt around it, and the result is compared with Excel's.Not compared: cells that change on every calculation (NOW, TODAY, RAND and the cells that read them) have no fixed value to compare with, and cells that keep their value have nothing new to check. Every one says why.