GCD in SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026: greatest common divisor explained

Suppose a print shop has 60 blue labels and 48 red labels. It wants the greatest number of identical bundles without leftovers, with the same composition in every bundle. The arithmetic GCD of 60 and 48 is 12, so 12 bundles could each contain 5 blue labels and 4 red labels. This is useful in equal-size grouping, common measurement subdivisions, ratio simplification, fraction reduction and repeated scheduling blocks.

The word greatest matters: 2, 3, 4 and 6 all divide 60 and 48, but the greatest shared positive divisor is 12. For relatively prime values, such as 14 and 25, the GCD is one; it does not mean that the numbers are equal.

• First introduced: Original introduction version is not established. GCD is documented by PlanMaker 2021; that is the earliest release checked here, not proof it was added in 2021.
• Current documented status: Supported in the PlanMaker 2026 English reference, whose manual portal also covers NX. The 2026 function reference remains available; this is documentation evidence, not an installed-app result.
• Last supported version / retirement: No retirement or final supported version is established. Supported in 2026 must not be read as “2026 was the last functioning version.”
• Version checks: The named function and input rules were checked in the separate 2021, 2024, and 2026 help entries. These checks do not establish support in every intervening build or FreeOffice licence tier.
• Platforms and editions: No Windows, macOS, Linux, Android or iOS execution was performed. Check the function in the installed edition before relying on platform-specific behaviour or exported workbooks.
• Evidence checked: October 14, 2026 UTC. Native tests: none. Examples are independently calculated expectations. No replacement is required by the checked current reference.

=GCD(Number1 [, Number2, Number3 ...])

The bracketed section is the manual’s optional notation, not characters to type literally. Enter a required first number and, when needed, additional comma-separated numbers or a range in the English formula syntax.

SoftMaker explicitly says values must be strictly greater than zero, and truncates fractional parts before evaluating the integer GCD. It also documents a range argument: entering 4, 8, and 6 into A1:A3 gives =GCD(A1:A3) → 2. PlanMaker 2026. The manual does not state an argument-count ceiling for PlanMaker’s GCD; do not borrow Microsoft’s Excel limit of 255 as a PlanMaker limit.

Positive fractions near zero: The source says the input must exceed zero and separately says fractional digits are discarded. It does not explain what happens when a positive fraction such as 0.5 becomes zero after truncation. This guide intentionally does not present that edge case as a known PlanMaker result; test it natively before building a production workflow around it.

Create a worksheet and enter Scenario, First, Second, Formula, Expected, Check in cells A1:F1. Put the two positive numeric inputs in B and C, copy the indicated formula into column D, and put the expected number into E. Use =D2=E2 in F2, copied through F15, to test your own installed application’s results.

The first two rows draw on the values in the vendor’s three-argument illustrations, with one argument omitted; their displayed two-input results are independent arithmetic expectations, not quoted two-input PlanMaker test output. The other rows cover relatively prime values, equal values, one as an argument, positive fractional inputs, and repeated common factors. In the decimal row, 18.9 and 12.2 are truncated to 18 and 12, yielding arithmetic GCD 6. All values are chosen to remain comfortably in the documented positive domain.

Three or more values and a contiguous range

SoftMaker documents these two examples:

=GCD(25,100,250)     → expected 25
=GCD(25,105,250)     → expected 5

For a separate blank range demonstration, put 4 in H2, 8 in H3 and 6 in H4. =GCD(H2:H4) has independently expected result 2. The manufacturer’s published A1:A3 range example uses those same three inputs. This separate H-column layout avoids conflicting with the column headings of the worked table above. SoftMaker PlanMaker 2026.

Suppose H6 = 60 blue labels and H7 = 48 red labels. The formula

=GCD(H6,H7)

has expected result 12 maximum identical bundles when every label must be used. =H6/GCD(H6,H7) yields 5 blue per bundle and =H7/GCD(H6,H7) yields 4 red per bundle. It finds a mathematically valid equal bundle composition. It does not optimize shipping cost, worker capacity, package dimensions, safety requirements or another business constraint. If your policy needs the largest number of pieces per package rather than the largest number of packages, specify that objective first; GCD answers a precise divisor question, not every packing question.

With H6 = 84 and H7 = 126, =GCD(H6,H7) has expected result 42. The reduced numerator is =H6/GCD(H6,H7) → 2 and the reduced denominator is =H7/GCD(H6,H7) → 3. Thus 84/126 reduces to 2/3. This formula is safest when H6 and H7 are verified positive integers, consistent with PlanMaker’s documented domain. If your fractions carry negative signs, don’t assume an undocumented GCD(-84,126) behaviour; treat signs separately after checking the application’s rules.

Suppose two items are stocked in counts of 144 and 60. A common unit size must divide both without remainders. The largest such unit is =GCD(144,60) → 12. That creates 12 units from the first count and 5 units from the second. By contrast, =GCD(14,25) → 1, so there is no common unit size larger than one. This interpretation assumes indivisible integer pieces and no leftovers; if you are working with measured mass or length, use an explicitly chosen base unit (such as millimetres) before applying an integer-divisor model.

For a positive-integer input column H2:H4 containing 4, 8 and 6, =GCD(H2:H4) yields expected 2. If the range changes to 8, 12 and 20, the arithmetic GCD becomes 4. A ranged reference is documented by SoftMaker, so this example is not an Excel-only borrowing. Before deploying a range that may contain blank cells, text, hidden rows, dates or logical values, verify their exact treatment in your PlanMaker build; the vendor’s compact GCD entry does not provide a complete range-coercion matrix.

SoftMaker’s GCD entry points readers to LCM as a related function. See the PlanMaker MOD guide when you need the remainder from a division. SoftMaker 2026.

Both English vendors document the name GCD, accepting a variable list of values, and truncating fractional input values. However, the PlanMaker 2026 manual states that all inputs must be greater than zero, while Microsoft’s GCD help includes =GCD(5,0) → 5. Therefore an Excel model that expects a zero-containing GCD input to be accepted should be reviewed and tested when moved into PlanMaker. The precisely displayed PlanMaker error code for that input has not been established; we report only the conflicting documented input contracts, not an invented native result.

Microsoft’s English GCD documentation states a 1–255 argument count and describes its own error conditions and numeric limits. None of those are verified PlanMaker caps, and success in one application’s help page does not prove recalculation of imported XLSX files in the other. Consult both release documentation sets and run a controlled workbook interchange before making compatibility promises.

• SoftMaker GCD function reference
• Microsoft Excel GCD reference, for the explicitly separated Excel comparisons.