CHOOSECOLS Function (LibreOffice Calc)

• Returns selected columns from a range or array
• Supports multiple column indexes
• Works with dynamic arrays
• Useful for filtering, reshaping, and lookup preparation
• A modern alternative to INDEX‑based column extraction

CHOOSECOLS(array; col1; col2; col3; ...)

Arguments

• array:
  The source range or array.

• col1, col2, …:
  One or more column numbers to extract (1‑based).

Extract a single column

=CHOOSECOLS(A1:D10; 2)
→ returns column B

Extract multiple columns

=CHOOSECOLS(A1:D10; 1; 4)
→ returns columns A and D

Using cell references

=CHOOSECOLS(A1:D10; A12)

Reorder columns

=CHOOSECOLS(A1:D10; 4; 1; 2)
→ D, A, B

Combine with FILTER

=CHOOSECOLS(FILTER(A1:D100; A1:A100>0); 1; 3)

Combine with SORTBY

=SORTBY(CHOOSECOLS(A1:D100; 1; 4); 2; -1)

Dynamic selection using MATCH

=CHOOSECOLS(A1:D10; MATCH("Price"; A1:D1; 0))

Extract every second column

=CHOOSECOLS(A1:H10; {1;3;5;7})

Use with XLOOKUP to return multiple columns

=XLOOKUP(E1; A1:A100; CHOOSECOLS(A1:D100; 2; 4))

CHOOSECOLS is 1‑based

• Column 1 = first column
• Column 0 → Err:502
• Negative indexes → Err:502

Accepts:

• Ranges
• Dynamic arrays
• Array literals

Behavior details

• Returns a dynamic array
• Column order is preserved based on the argument order
• Duplicate column indexes are allowed
• Out‑of‑range indexes → Err:502

CHOOSECOLS of an error → error propagates

• Use CHOOSECOLS for clean, readable column extraction
• Use INDEX for row‑based extraction
• Combine with FILTER, SORT, and SORTBY for dynamic pipelines
• Use MATCH to generate column indexes programmatically
• Use CHOOSEROWS for row extraction

• CHOOSEROWS — extract rows
• CHOOSE — select from a list
• INDEX — flexible row/column extraction
• FILTER — row filtering
• SORT / SORTBY — ordering arrays
• XLOOKUP — modern lookup with array returns

By mastering CHOOSECOLS, you can build powerful, dynamic data‑manipulation workflows in LibreOffice Calc.