OFFSET in Collabora Office: Move and Resize References with Explicit Dimensions

• Introduced: the original Collabora release and launch date are not established by the reviewed sources.
• Availability: documented in Collabora Office 26.04 desktop help.
• Platform scope: online and mobile deployment support is not inferred from the desktop documentation.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. Function-specific documentation and independent controls; no native Collabora execution.

=OFFSET(Reference; Rows; Columns [; Height [; Width]])

Positive Rows moves down; negative Rows moves up. Positive Columns moves right; negative Columns moves left. Zero keeps that coordinate unchanged.

Height and Width are optional output dimensions. The help’s range examples retain the starting reference’s dimensions when both are omitted. It also explicitly warns that optional parameters can only be omitted when no later parameter follows: supply Height if you supply Width. Do not assume an interior blank argument is supported here.

The start row and column must stay positive, and the dimensions must not be zero or negative. Exact error codes and fractional-argument conversion are not established by this section, so examples use valid integer offsets and sizes.

Put numeric 100 in C3 and 40 in B2. In a free cell evaluate:

=OFFSET(A1;2;2)
=OFFSET(C3;-1;-1)

Expected results are 100 and 40. Starting at A1, two rows down and two columns right reaches C3. Starting at C3, one row up and one column left reaches B2.

The original contents of A1 and C3 are not relocated by the formula. A reference calculation is different from a cut-and-paste operation.

Enter this block in A1:D4:

In a free cell use:

=SUM(OFFSET(B2:C3;1;1))

The two-by-two reference shifts to C3:D4, whose values are 11, 12, 15 and 16. Expected total: 54.

=SUM(OFFSET(B2:C3;-1;-1)) instead selects A1:B2, with expected total 14. These examples use SUM to consume the resulting range, avoiding an unsupported assumption about displaying a multi-cell reference as an ordinary scalar result.

With the same block:

=SUM(OFFSET(B2:C3;0;0;3;3))

The new reference starts at B2 and spans B2:D4, three rows by three columns. Its values total 99.

For another control, =SUM(OFFSET(A1;1;1;2;3)) selects B2:D3. The two row totals are 21 and 33, giving 54. Height and Width count included rows and columns from the new origin; they are not additional movement distances.

On another sheet, enter 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 in B2:B7. Put selector 1 in E2:

=SUM(OFFSET($B$2;E2-1;0;3;1))

Selector 1 selects B2:B4 and totals 60. Selectors 2, 3 and 4 select B3:B5, B4:B6 and B5:B7, giving 90, 120 and 150.

The valid fixture selectors are 1 through 4 because a three-row window must fit within six data rows. Selector 5 would extend beyond the intended dataset even if the resulting worksheet coordinates were still technically valid. Validate the business range, not just the sheet boundary.

The official help states that OFFSET recalculates whenever recalculation occurs. It does not specify a universal refresh interval or establish equivalent behavior in Collabora Online.

Use ROWS and COLUMNS to inspect intended dimensions, and SUM when the reference should feed a total. Noncontiguous inputs, fractional offsets, reference errors and native overflow behavior remain unverified. Keep the reference geometry visible before adding more elaborate conditions.

• Collabora Office 26.04: OFFSET.
• Editorial testing standards.

Complete function-specific documentation reviewed. Worked outputs are independently modeled reference, text or arithmetic controls, not captured native application results. Unverified entry, conversion and error boundaries retain their stated scope.