How to make Excel formula work in all regions

I need to make a workbook operate in several regions that is heavy on Excel formulae.

I use the UK regional settings so the following Excel formula works fine using comma delimiter is normal for me.

=IF(A1=A1,"This Works","")

As an example, an Italian Windows/Excel version uses a semicolon delimiter eg

=IF(A1=A1;"This Works";"")

Is there an Excel ONLY setting that will allow all formula to work in any region? I thought there was one but cannot find it in Excel 2010+

Note: I know the regional settings can be changed in control panel eg see this link but this is not a viable solution in my case as control panel is not accessible.


Excel stores native formulas in the file regardless of locale. As an example, you can save a file in an English locale and open it in an Italian or German locale.

In fact and as you mentioned, the way Excel expects formulas to be written is somewhat related to the Regional Settings of the machine and of the version of Excel being used. In any given machine, you have to type formulas as the locale expects it. After saving, any version of Excel should open and "convert" the , to ; and vice-versa, accordingly.

On a side note, VBA scripting should be independent of locale, unless the scripts expected some character to be present.