Formula parse error in Google Sheets after pasting a formula: commas vs semicolons

When you copy a VLOOKUP formula from a tutorial into a Google Sheets cell, you may encounter a #ERROR! message with a tooltip stating "Formula parse error." The issue lies not in the spelling of the function name, but in the use of commas or semicolons as argument separators. This discrepancy arises because the argument separator depends on the spreadsheet's locale settings, not the tutorial author's language or your Google account language.

For example, US and UK sheets use commas to separate arguments, while locales that use commas as the decimal mark (such as Germany, France, Brazil, and many others) use semicolons instead. To reproduce this problem, create a new blank sheet, set the locale to Germany, and input data in cells A2, B2, and D2. Then, enter the formula =VLOOKUP(D2,A2:B2,2,FALSE) in cell E2. The sheet will display the #ERROR! message, indicating a formula parse error.

This error is not unique to the VLOOKUP function; any function with more than one argument will also trigger it. The fix is simple: use the argument separator that matches your locale's settings. For instance, on a German locale, the formula should be entered as =VLOOKUP(D2;A2:B2;2;FALSE). Both the corrected formula and the IF statement =IF(D2=101;B2; none ) will yield the desired result, "Widget."

It's important to note that changing your Google account language or wrapping the formula in IFERROR will not resolve the issue; they merely hide the error rather than addressing the root cause. Additionally, be cautious when pasting text containing commas, as it may not be translated correctly for locales using semicolons as argument separators. Lastly, remember that array literals in a semicolon locale require a backslash (\) between columns, while commas (,) separate columns and semicolons (;) stack rows.