BINOM.DIST
Quirk foundCategory: Statistical · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the BINOM.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 BINOM.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 BINOM.DIST working in LibreOffice?
BINOM.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
-
=BINOM.DIST(11,A3,A4,FALSE) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
Excel documents: "If number_s < 0 or number_s > trials, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value."; MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#NUM!', got '#VALUE!'
-
=BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,1.5,FALSE) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
Excel documents: "If probability_s < 0 or probability_s > 1, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value."; 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(BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,A4,FALSE),7) | Microsoft's documented worked example: probability of exactly 6 successes in 10 trials at p=0.5 | 0.2050781 | 0.2050781ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 0.2050781. Independently derived from the documented probability mass function COMBIN(n,x)*p^x*(1-p)^(n-x): C(10,6)*0.5^10 = 210/1024 = 0.205078125 exactly -> 0.2050781 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,A4,TRUE),7) | The same parameters with cumulative TRUE, giving the probability of at most 6 successes | 0.828125 | 0.828125ProvenanceExcel documents that with cumulative TRUE the function returns "the probability that there are at most number_s successes", i.e. the sum of the mass function for k = 0..6. Independently derived: (C(10,0)+...+C(10,6))/1024 = (1+10+45+120+210+252+210)/1024 = 848/1024 = 0.828125 exactly |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BINOM.DIST(6.9,10.9,A4,FALSE),7) | Non-integer number_s and trials, which the documentation says are truncated | 0.2050781 | 0.2050781ProvenanceExcel documents "Number_s and trials are truncated to integers", so 6.9 and 10.9 must behave exactly as 6 and 10 and return the documented 0.205078125. Independently checked that a genuine non-truncating evaluation would differ: with 7 successes in 11 trials the mass is C(11,7)*0.5^11 = 330/2048 = 0.161133 |
Matched |
| =BINOM.DIST(11,A3,A4,FALSE) | More successes than trials | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If number_s < 0 or number_s > trials, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,1.5,FALSE) | A success probability above 1 | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If probability_s < 0 or probability_s > 1, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =BINOM.DIST("abc",A3,A4,FALSE) | A non-numeric number_s argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If number_s, trials, or probability_s is nonnumeric, BINOM.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(BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,A4,FALSE),7) | Microsoft's documented worked example: probability of exactly 6 successes in 10 trials at p=0.5 | 0.2050781 | 0.2050781ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 0.2050781. Independently derived from the documented probability mass function COMBIN(n,x)*p^x*(1-p)^(n-x): C(10,6)*0.5^10 = 210/1024 = 0.205078125 exactly -> 0.2050781 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,A4,TRUE),7) | The same parameters with cumulative TRUE, giving the probability of at most 6 successes | 0.828125 | 0.828125ProvenanceExcel documents that with cumulative TRUE the function returns "the probability that there are at most number_s successes", i.e. the sum of the mass function for k = 0..6. Independently derived: (C(10,0)+...+C(10,6))/1024 = (1+10+45+120+210+252+210)/1024 = 848/1024 = 0.828125 exactly |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BINOM.DIST(6.9,10.9,A4,FALSE),7) | Non-integer number_s and trials, which the documentation says are truncated | 0.2050781 | 0.2050781ProvenanceExcel documents "Number_s and trials are truncated to integers", so 6.9 and 10.9 must behave exactly as 6 and 10 and return the documented 0.205078125. Independently checked that a genuine non-truncating evaluation would differ: with 7 successes in 11 trials the mass is C(11,7)*0.5^11 = 330/2048 = 0.161133 |
Matched |
| =BINOM.DIST(11,A3,A4,FALSE) | More successes than trials | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If number_s < 0 or number_s > trials, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,1.5,FALSE) | A success probability above 1 | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If probability_s < 0 or probability_s > 1, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =BINOM.DIST("abc",A3,A4,FALSE) | A non-numeric number_s argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If number_s, trials, or probability_s is nonnumeric, BINOM.DIST returns the #VALUE! error value." |
Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-31)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,A4,FALSE),7) | Microsoft's documented worked example: probability of exactly 6 successes in 10 trials at p=0.5 | 0.2050781 | 0.2050781ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 0.2050781. Independently derived from the documented probability mass function COMBIN(n,x)*p^x*(1-p)^(n-x): C(10,6)*0.5^10 = 210/1024 = 0.205078125 exactly -> 0.2050781 at 7 dp |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,A4,TRUE),7) | The same parameters with cumulative TRUE, giving the probability of at most 6 successes | 0.828125 | 0.828125ProvenanceExcel documents that with cumulative TRUE the function returns "the probability that there are at most number_s successes", i.e. the sum of the mass function for k = 0..6. Independently derived: (C(10,0)+...+C(10,6))/1024 = (1+10+45+120+210+252+210)/1024 = 848/1024 = 0.828125 exactly |
Matched |
| =ROUND(BINOM.DIST(6.9,10.9,A4,FALSE),7) | Non-integer number_s and trials, which the documentation says are truncated | 0.2050781 | 0.2050781ProvenanceExcel documents "Number_s and trials are truncated to integers", so 6.9 and 10.9 must behave exactly as 6 and 10 and return the documented 0.205078125. Independently checked that a genuine non-truncating evaluation would differ: with 7 successes in 11 trials the mass is C(11,7)*0.5^11 = 330/2048 = 0.161133 |
Matched |
| =BINOM.DIST(11,A3,A4,FALSE) | More successes than trials | #VALUE! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If number_s < 0 or number_s > trials, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Mismatch |
| =BINOM.DIST(A2,A3,1.5,FALSE) | A success probability above 1 | #VALUE! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If probability_s < 0 or probability_s > 1, BINOM.DIST returns the #NUM! error value." |
Mismatch |
| =BINOM.DIST("abc",A3,A4,FALSE) | A non-numeric number_s argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If number_s, trials, or probability_s is nonnumeric, BINOM.DIST returns the #VALUE! error value." |
Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation