Lost in Translation? Why Your Excel Formulas Are Throwing Errors

Have you ever copied a brilliant formula from an online tutorial, pasted it into your spreadsheet, and... nothing? Instead of the expected result, you saw the frustrating #NAME? error. In 90% of cases, the problem isn't your lack of knowledge, but your Excel's language version.

English vs. The World

Microsoft Excel is amazing, but it has one specific quirk: it localizes function names. The legendary VLOOKUP is WYSZUKAJ.PIONOWO in Polish, SVERWEIS in German, and BUSCARV in Spanish. If we add the confusion over separators (comma vs. semicolon), you have a perfect recipe for a headache when working in an international team.

The Syntax Barrier

It's not just the names. Depending on your regional settings, Excel expects different characters to separate arguments within a function. While English versions typically use a comma (,), many European versions (like Polish or German) require a semicolon (;) because the comma is reserved as a decimal separator.

Why We Built FXTranslate

We created FXTranslate to put an end to scrolling through endless Microsoft documentation. Our goal is simple: you type the function you know, and you instantly get its equivalent in another language along with the correct separators. No ads, no page reloads, no unnecessary clicks.

Whether you’re working on a Polish interface or learning from YouTube tutorials in English – FXTranslate speaks your language (and your Excel's language).