CHIINV
Quirk foundCategory: Compatibility · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the CHIINV 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 CHIINV’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 CHIINV working in LibreOffice?
CHIINV 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
-
=CHIINV(1.5,A3) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
Excel documents: "If probability < 0 or probability > 1, CHIINV returns the #NUM! error value."; MISMATCH vs expected: expected '#NUM!', got '#VALUE!'
-
=CHIINV(A2,0) on
LibreOffice Calc returned
#VALUE!, but the documented/expected
result is #NUM!.
Provenance
Excel documents: "If deg_freedom < 1, CHIINV 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(CHIINV(A2,A3),6) | Microsoft's documented worked example: inverse of the right-tailed chi-squared probability 0.050001 at 10 degrees of freedom | 18.306973 | 18.306973ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 18.306973. Independently derived from the documented definition CHIINV(p,df) = x such that CHIDIST(x,df) = p, i.e. the inverse survival function: scipy.stats.chi2.isf(0.050001, 10) = 18.30697345696106 -> 18.306973 at 6 dp. Cross-checked by round-trip: chi2.sf(18.30697345696106, 10) = 0.050001 |
Matched |
| =ROUND(CHIINV(0.5,4),8) | A second point on the inverse: the median of the chi-squared distribution with 4 degrees of freedom | 3.35669398 | 3.35669398ProvenanceDerived from the same documented inverse-survival definition: scipy.stats.chi2.isf(0.5, 4) = 3.3566939800333224 -> 3.35669398 at 8 dp. This point is not on Microsoft's page, so it tests the function against mathematics rather than against a published figure |
Matched |
| =ROUND(CHIINV(A2,10.9),6) | A non-integer degrees-of-freedom argument, which the documentation says is truncated | 18.306973 | 18.306973ProvenanceExcel documents "If deg_freedom is not an integer, it is truncated", so 10.9 must behave exactly as 10 and return the documented 18.306973. Independently checked that this discriminates: a genuine 10.9 degrees of freedom would give chi2.isf(0.050001, 10.9) = 19.539074 |
Matched |
| =CHIINV(1.5,A3) | A probability argument greater than 1 | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If probability < 0 or probability > 1, CHIINV returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =CHIINV(A2,0) | Zero degrees of freedom | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If deg_freedom < 1, CHIINV returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =CHIINV("abc",A3) | A non-numeric probability argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If either argument is nonnumeric, CHIINV 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(CHIINV(A2,A3),6) | Microsoft's documented worked example: inverse of the right-tailed chi-squared probability 0.050001 at 10 degrees of freedom | 18.306973 | 18.306973ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 18.306973. Independently derived from the documented definition CHIINV(p,df) = x such that CHIDIST(x,df) = p, i.e. the inverse survival function: scipy.stats.chi2.isf(0.050001, 10) = 18.30697345696106 -> 18.306973 at 6 dp. Cross-checked by round-trip: chi2.sf(18.30697345696106, 10) = 0.050001 |
Matched |
| =ROUND(CHIINV(0.5,4),8) | A second point on the inverse: the median of the chi-squared distribution with 4 degrees of freedom | 3.35669398 | 3.35669398ProvenanceDerived from the same documented inverse-survival definition: scipy.stats.chi2.isf(0.5, 4) = 3.3566939800333224 -> 3.35669398 at 8 dp. This point is not on Microsoft's page, so it tests the function against mathematics rather than against a published figure |
Matched |
| =ROUND(CHIINV(A2,10.9),6) | A non-integer degrees-of-freedom argument, which the documentation says is truncated | 18.306973 | 18.306973ProvenanceExcel documents "If deg_freedom is not an integer, it is truncated", so 10.9 must behave exactly as 10 and return the documented 18.306973. Independently checked that this discriminates: a genuine 10.9 degrees of freedom would give chi2.isf(0.050001, 10.9) = 19.539074 |
Matched |
| =CHIINV(1.5,A3) | A probability argument greater than 1 | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If probability < 0 or probability > 1, CHIINV returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =CHIINV(A2,0) | Zero degrees of freedom | #NUM! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If deg_freedom < 1, CHIINV returns the #NUM! error value." |
Matched |
| =CHIINV("abc",A3) | A non-numeric probability argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If either argument is nonnumeric, CHIINV returns the #VALUE! error value." |
Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-31)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =ROUND(CHIINV(A2,A3),6) | Microsoft's documented worked example: inverse of the right-tailed chi-squared probability 0.050001 at 10 degrees of freedom | 18.306973 | 18.306973ProvenanceMicrosoft's page publishes this example's result as 18.306973. Independently derived from the documented definition CHIINV(p,df) = x such that CHIDIST(x,df) = p, i.e. the inverse survival function: scipy.stats.chi2.isf(0.050001, 10) = 18.30697345696106 -> 18.306973 at 6 dp. Cross-checked by round-trip: chi2.sf(18.30697345696106, 10) = 0.050001 |
Matched |
| =ROUND(CHIINV(0.5,4),8) | A second point on the inverse: the median of the chi-squared distribution with 4 degrees of freedom | 3.35669398 | 3.35669398ProvenanceDerived from the same documented inverse-survival definition: scipy.stats.chi2.isf(0.5, 4) = 3.3566939800333224 -> 3.35669398 at 8 dp. This point is not on Microsoft's page, so it tests the function against mathematics rather than against a published figure |
Matched |
| =ROUND(CHIINV(A2,10.9),6) | A non-integer degrees-of-freedom argument, which the documentation says is truncated | 18.306973 | 18.306973ProvenanceExcel documents "If deg_freedom is not an integer, it is truncated", so 10.9 must behave exactly as 10 and return the documented 18.306973. Independently checked that this discriminates: a genuine 10.9 degrees of freedom would give chi2.isf(0.050001, 10.9) = 19.539074 |
Matched |
| =CHIINV(1.5,A3) | A probability argument greater than 1 | #VALUE! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If probability < 0 or probability > 1, CHIINV returns the #NUM! error value." |
Mismatch |
| =CHIINV(A2,0) | Zero degrees of freedom | #VALUE! | #NUM!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If deg_freedom < 1, CHIINV returns the #NUM! error value." |
Mismatch |
| =CHIINV("abc",A3) | A non-numeric probability argument | #VALUE! | #VALUE!ProvenanceExcel documents: "If either argument is nonnumeric, CHIINV returns the #VALUE! error value." |
Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation