BETA.DIST
Quirk foundCategory: Statistical · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the BETA.DIST function: executed in Excel for the web, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc, with desktop Excel behavior from Microsoft’s official documentation (we do not run desktop Excel — Excel for the web is a different application and is executed separately). Syntax and links to that documentation are below.
Support matrix
| Engine | Documented | Live-tested | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel (desktop) | Yes | No — documented only | n/a |
| Excel for the web | — | Yes (recalc, 2026-09-01) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| Google Sheets | Yes | Yes (Drive import, 2026-08-31) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| LibreOffice Calc | Yes | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-08-31) | Quirk found |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when BETA.DIST’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Quirk found | 2026-08-31 |
Why isn't BETA.DIST working in LibreOffice?
BETA.DIST exists in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3, but it is not a drop-in match for
Excel — our executed tests found real behavioral differences (detailed in the test results on this
page). If a formula that works in Excel or Google Sheets misbehaves in LibreOffice, compare your usage
against the failing cases above before assuming your data is wrong.
Discovered quirks
-
=BETA.DIST(A2,0,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
Excel documents: "If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value."; MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#NUM!', got '#VALUE!'
-
=BETA.DIST(4,A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
Excel documents: "If x < A, x > B, or A = B, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." Here x = 4 exceeds B = 3; MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#NUM!', got '#VALUE!'
Executed test cases
Excel for the web (executed 2026-09-01 via OneDrive recalculation)
These values come from Excel for the web, not from desktop Excel. They are two different implementations of the calculation engine, and this run measured only the web one: the corpus was uploaded to OneDrive as .xlsx, recalculated by Excel for the web on open, and downloaded again for readback. Excel for the web is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so the run is identified by its date. Where a value here disagrees with the Expected column — which is Microsoft’s documentation of the desktop product — we cannot tell you whether the web engine diverges from the desktop one or the documentation is wrong about both, because we do not run desktop Excel.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(A2,A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6),7) | Microsoft's documented worked example: cumulative beta distribution at x=2 with alpha=8, beta=10 on the interval [1,3] | 0.6854706 | 0.6854706ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 0.6854706. Independently derived from the documented definition (the beta CDF rescaled to [A,B]): I_{(x-A)/(B-A)}(alpha,beta) = I_{0.5}(8,10), the regularized incomplete beta function, which scipy.special.betainc(8,10,0.5) gives as 0.6854705810546875 -> 0.6854706 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(A2,A3,A4,FALSE,A5,A6),7) | The same parameters with cumulative FALSE, returning the probability density | 1.4837646 | 1.4837646ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 1.4837646. Independently derived from the beta density rescaled to [A,B]: f((x-A)/(B-A); 8,10)/(B-A) = beta.pdf(0.5,8,10)/2 = 2.967529296875/2 = 1.4837646484374996 -> 1.4837646 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(0.5,A3,A4,TRUE),7) | The same distribution on the default interval, with A and B omitted | 0.6854706 | 0.6854706ProvenanceExcel documents "If you omit values for A and B, BETA.DIST uses the standard cumulative beta distribution, so that A = 0 and B = 1". Because x=2 on [1,3] rescales to exactly 0.5 on [0,1], this must return the identical 0.6854706 as the documented example -- a direct check of the documented default-bounds rule |
Matched |
| =BETA.DIST(A2,0,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | An alpha parameter of zero | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =BETA.DIST(4,A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | An x value above the upper bound B | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If x < A, x > B, or A = B, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." Here x = 4 exceeds B = 3 |
Matched |
| =BETA.DIST("abc",A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | A non-numeric x argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If any argument is nonnumeric, BETA.DIST returns the #VALUE! error value." |
Matched |
Google Sheets (executed 2026-08-31 via Drive import)
Google Sheets is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so this run is identified by its date. The corpus was imported to Drive as .xlsx, recalculated by Sheets, and exported back for readback.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(A2,A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6),7) | Microsoft's documented worked example: cumulative beta distribution at x=2 with alpha=8, beta=10 on the interval [1,3] | 0.6854706 | 0.6854706ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 0.6854706. Independently derived from the documented definition (the beta CDF rescaled to [A,B]): I_{(x-A)/(B-A)}(alpha,beta) = I_{0.5}(8,10), the regularized incomplete beta function, which scipy.special.betainc(8,10,0.5) gives as 0.6854705810546875 -> 0.6854706 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(A2,A3,A4,FALSE,A5,A6),7) | The same parameters with cumulative FALSE, returning the probability density | 1.4837646 | 1.4837646ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 1.4837646. Independently derived from the beta density rescaled to [A,B]: f((x-A)/(B-A); 8,10)/(B-A) = beta.pdf(0.5,8,10)/2 = 2.967529296875/2 = 1.4837646484374996 -> 1.4837646 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(0.5,A3,A4,TRUE),7) | The same distribution on the default interval, with A and B omitted | 0.6854706 | 0.6854706ProvenanceExcel documents "If you omit values for A and B, BETA.DIST uses the standard cumulative beta distribution, so that A = 0 and B = 1". Because x=2 on [1,3] rescales to exactly 0.5 on [0,1], this must return the identical 0.6854706 as the documented example -- a direct check of the documented default-bounds rule |
Matched |
| =BETA.DIST(A2,0,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | An alpha parameter of zero | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =BETA.DIST(4,A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | An x value above the upper bound B | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If x < A, x > B, or A = B, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." Here x = 4 exceeds B = 3 |
Matched |
| =BETA.DIST("abc",A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | A non-numeric x argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If any argument is nonnumeric, BETA.DIST returns the #VALUE! error value." |
Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-31)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(A2,A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6),7) | Microsoft's documented worked example: cumulative beta distribution at x=2 with alpha=8, beta=10 on the interval [1,3] | 0.6854706 | 0.6854706ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 0.6854706. Independently derived from the documented definition (the beta CDF rescaled to [A,B]): I_{(x-A)/(B-A)}(alpha,beta) = I_{0.5}(8,10), the regularized incomplete beta function, which scipy.special.betainc(8,10,0.5) gives as 0.6854705810546875 -> 0.6854706 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(A2,A3,A4,FALSE,A5,A6),7) | The same parameters with cumulative FALSE, returning the probability density | 1.4837646 | 1.4837646ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 1.4837646. Independently derived from the beta density rescaled to [A,B]: f((x-A)/(B-A); 8,10)/(B-A) = beta.pdf(0.5,8,10)/2 = 2.967529296875/2 = 1.4837646484374996 -> 1.4837646 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BETA.DIST(0.5,A3,A4,TRUE),7) | The same distribution on the default interval, with A and B omitted | 0.6854706 | 0.6854706ProvenanceExcel documents "If you omit values for A and B, BETA.DIST uses the standard cumulative beta distribution, so that A = 0 and B = 1". Because x=2 on [1,3] rescales to exactly 0.5 on [0,1], this must return the identical 0.6854706 as the documented example -- a direct check of the documented default-bounds rule |
Matched |
| =BETA.DIST(A2,0,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | An alpha parameter of zero | #VALUE! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If alpha <= 0 or beta <= 0, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Mismatch |
| =BETA.DIST(4,A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | An x value above the upper bound B | #VALUE! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If x < A, x > B, or A = B, BETA.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." Here x = 4 exceeds B = 3 |
Mismatch |
| =BETA.DIST("abc",A3,A4,TRUE,A5,A6) | A non-numeric x argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If any argument is nonnumeric, BETA.DIST returns the #VALUE! error value." |
Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation