MODE.MULT Function (LibreOffice Calc)

• Introduced: LibreOffice 4.3.
• Availability: Supported in LibreOffice 26.8.1.1, verified against its function registry. This identifies a supported release, not a final working version.
• Scope: Desktop Calc, using the English function name. Availability in other spreadsheet applications is separate.
• Checked: 2026-10-14 — function reference; versioned support. Documentation/source check; not a new native test. Existing example-specific test claims below retain their stated scope.

Historical validation scope: The recorded native observations are from LibreOffice Calc 25.2.3.2 on Linux, 12 October 2026 at 22:09 UTC. This review verified the saved manuscript and evidence hashes, all 135 ODS/result pairs, and independently checked 14 modal sets plus four worked counts or sums. Calc was not rerun. Array padding and ordering are explicitly version-specific observations.

MODE.MULT identifies all distinct numbers tied for the highest repetition count in a numeric dataset. It returns a vertical array, unlike MODE.SNGL, which returns one mode. A number is a mode only if it appears at least twice. [LO-1]

For example, if your numbers are 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, the modes are 2 and 3, because both occur twice and no other value occurs more often. If a single value is most frequent, the mathematical result contains that one mode. If all numbers appear only once, there is no repeated mode and Calc 25.2.3.2 returns #VALUE! (native observation, not an Excel claim). [N-1]

MODE.MULT(Number 1 [; Number 2 [; … [; Number 255]]])

This is the official current LibreOffice Help syntax. There can be up to 255 arguments; a single range such as A2:A13 is one argument and may contain many cells. [LO-1]

Number 1 means the first numeric data argument, not a request to return the first number. Semicolons are the default English Calc function-argument separators in the documented examples; comma separators and localized function names can be configured at Tools → Options → LibreOffice Calc → Formula. Do not simply paste Excel’s comma-delimited syntax into an installation using semicolons. Decimal characters and formula separators are separate locale considerations. [LO-3]

Support and format: LibreOffice Help documents availability since LibreOffice 4.3. MODE.MULT is not a standard ODF 1.3 OpenFormula function; LibreOffice documents the namespace COM.MICROSOFT.MODE.MULT. This matters when exchanging ODF files with other spreadsheet applications; keeping a formula in an ODS file does not establish identical recalculation behavior elsewhere. [LO-1]

Enter this data into A2:A13 in Calc. The same data appears in the saved native-test workbook:

Check the counts before applying the function: 1 occurs three times (A2, A8, A13), 2 occurs three times (A3, A7, A9), and 3 occurs three times (A4, A6, A10). The other numbers each occur once. Therefore the independently calculated set of modes is {1, 2, 3}. [I-1]

1. Select P2:P4 (three vertically adjacent, empty cells).
2. Enter =MODE.MULT(A2:A13) without braces.
3. Confirm with Ctrl+Shift+Enter; Calc identifies it as one array formula.

The native test generated the same first three values in an eight-row array output; its next five rows showed #N/A. The three-row result is the reproducible example to use. Independently computed frequencies agree with the observed set. The current LibreOffice function documentation does not explicitly promise an ordering for tied modes, so do not rely on the first/second/third row being sorted in other releases or changed input orders. [N-1, I-1]

Sanity-check formulas (ordinary single-cell formulas):

=COUNTIF(A2:A13;1)      → 3
=COUNTIF(A2:A13;2)      → 3
=COUNTIF(A2:A13;3)      → 3
=COUNT(A2:A13)          → 12

All four counts here follow directly from the twelve displayed source values and are independent calculations, not additional native executions. The saved native COUNTIF test used the separate F2:F9 dataset, where 3 also occurred three times. [N-1, I-1]

In B2:B9, enter 9, 9, 1, 1, 9, 1, 4, 4 (one number per row). The independent counts are 9 → 3, 1 → 3, 4 → 2. [I-1]

=MODE.MULT(B2:B9)

The saved ordinary-cell test used the equivalent tie =MODE.MULT(9;9;1;1) and displayed 9. The range B2:B9 was tested in an eight-row array: its first two outputs were 9, 1, followed by #N/A. Selecting two output cells is the corresponding compact example, rather than a separately saved execution. Both modes are equally frequent. 9 appearing before 1 is a native version-specific observation, not a guaranteed ranking rule. [N-1]

The difference matters if a report includes ties: a non-array MODE.MULT may silently look like a MODE.SNGL result and conceal additional modes. LibreOffice Help explicitly warns that only the first mode is returned if you fail to enter an array formula. [LO-1]

Enter 0.5, 0.5, 0.3, 0.3, 1.1, 1.1 in I2:I7. Confirm =MODE.MULT(I2:I7) over three vertical output cells. The first three rows of the saved eight-row Calc 25.2.3.2 array displayed 0.5; 0.3; 1.1. The independently calculated modal set is {0.3, 0.5, 1.1}, since each appears twice. This is an example of equal-frequency ties, not a sorting operation. [N-1, I-1]

In L2:L8, enter actual numbers 3, 4, 4, 3, 3, with cells containing text "3" and "4" interspersed (use text formatting or a leading apostrophe to prevent auto-conversion). In the native test, =MODE.MULT(L2:L8) returned 3, because there were three numeric 3s and two numeric 4s; the numeric-looking text was excluded. [N-1]

This distinction can change reports built from imported CSV data. Before calculating, check for numbers stored as text. Explicitly convert data only when you have verified its decimal and grouping conventions; indiscriminate conversion can alter identifiers. The separate NUMBERVALUE and VALUE functions can help with intentional text-to-number conversion, but are not part of MODE.MULT itself.

In E2:E9, enter 1, blank, text n/a, 1, 7, 7, text "5", 0. Confirm =MODE.MULT(E2:E9) across two vertical output cells. The first two rows of the saved eight-row Calc 25.2.3.2 array returned 1, then 7. The blank and text entries did not act as numeric zero; the actual 0 occurred only once. This is a native Calc observation matching an independent count over the numeric cells. [N-1, I-1]

If all inputs are text or every numeric value is unique, there is no repeated numeric mode. In native tests, MODE.MULT returned #VALUE! for an all-text range and for a range where every number appeared once. [N-1]

A. Verify or chart the repeat count of a returned mode

If P2 contains a mode from the first example, use:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$13;P2)

Expected result: 3, because each modal value in that sample occurs three times. This count is independently derived from the example’s source data (the specific direct native test executed =COUNTIF(F2:F9;3) and also returned 3 for that separate sample). You can fill the formula down next to each modal output to label a frequency chart. [I-1]

B. Combine samples into one analysis

The official signature accepts multiple numeric ranges:

=MODE.MULT(A2:A13;B2:B9)

This illustrates documented argument structure, not a separately native-tested result. Both ranges contribute to the same pool. Do not read this as two independent MODE.MULT calculations. To make a formula easier to audit, consolidating values into one column and checking COUNTIF counts may be preferable. [LO-1]

C. Sum the multiple modal values

For the first dataset, native Calc 25.2.3.2 evaluated:

=SUM(MODE.MULT(A2:A13))

Observed result: 6, agreeing independently with 1+2+3. This is a derived calculation over the modal values; it does not tell you how many observations are in the dataset. To count entries, use COUNT(A2:A13); to count the repetitions of a mode, use COUNTIF. [N-1, I-1]

D. Handle cases with no repeated value

Native execution of

=IFERROR(MODE.MULT(1;2;3);"No repeated value")

returned No repeated value, replacing the underlying #VALUE! error. This is useful for a single-cell summary. When used over a multi-cell array output, check how error handling interacts with the selected range before relying on it; this exact array-wrapped combination was not separately tested. [N-1]

Important limits: LibreOffice Help specifies a maximum of 255 separate arguments, not a 255-row maximum for one referenced range. It does not provide a blanket maximum number of returned distinct modes in the cited page; practical limits depend on array selection, data, and application. Do not invent a return-length limit. [LO-1]

What happens if the output selection is too large?

The native reproduction script deliberately used an eight-row result range, even for tiny datasets. For 1, 2, 3 tied as three distinct modes, the first three rows were modes and the remaining five showed #N/A. With only one numeric mode (for example, 3 most frequent), the eight-row selection returned 3 in every row in that tested Calc build. For a data range without any mode, all eight rows showed #VALUE!. These three cases illustrate why it is unsafe to promise one simple overflow rule across every case or version. They are observed outputs in Calc 25.2.3.2, not a general rule supplied by the current Help text. [N-1]

Cross-program portability warning: matching function names do not establish identical handling of ties, error cells, blank cells, excess array rows, or locale syntax. Save and retest a copy when importing/exporting .xlsx or editing in Sheets. Check the displayed results, rather than trusting a matching formula name. [LO-1, LO-3, MS-1, GS-1]

• COUNTIF — count how often a candidate appears
• MEDIAN — the middle value, not the most frequent
• FREQUENCY — counts within value bins, a different calculation
• IFERROR — replace a no-mode error in a report
• TRANSPOSE — rearrange an array’s orientation

Primary LibreOffice documentation checked again 13 October 2026 (the pages displayed LibreOffice 26.8 Help):

1. [LO-1] Statistical Functions Part Four — MODE.MULT and MODE.SNGL. Supports the official MODE.MULT description, 255-argument syntax, since-4.3 availability, array requirement, and COM.MICROSOFT.MODE.MULT namespace/ODF status. Documentation check, not native 26.8 execution.
2. [LO-2] Array Functions — creating and editing array formulas. Supports selection of the output range, array shortcut, Function Wizard checkbox, braces, and linked-array editing. Documentation check.
3. [LO-3] Formula Options. Supports configurable function names and argument/array separators. Documentation check.

External vendor documentation checked again 13 October 2026 (documentation comparison only):

4. [MS-1] Microsoft Excel — MODE.MULT. Used only for the documented Excel name/purpose/array concept. No Excel execution.
5. [GS-1] Google Docs Editors Help — MODE.MULT. Used only to verify Sheets documents the function name and multi-modal purpose. No Google Sheets execution.

Reproducible native and independent evidence:

• [N-1] Saved run_native.py and MODE_MULT_native_tests.ods, executed in actual LibreOffice Calc 25.2.3.2 / Linux via UNO. native-results.json preserves each formula, source data, displayed results, and native error code; 15 array datasets and 15 additional ordinary formulas were executed. The array range was created using Calc’s native UNO array-formula method, equivalent in purpose to the documented UI array entry.
• [I-1] Saved validate_native.py and independent-validation.json recalculate numeric frequencies in Python, verify modal sets and error/overflow patterns against the recorded native results, and clearly separate independent calculation from native formula execution. 23/23 prespecified independent assertions passed; seven remaining native observations were documented but not scored as frequency assertions. Independently calculated results are not presented as additional Calc runs.