STDEV.P
Supported, behaves as documentedCategory: Statistical · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the STDEV.P 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, 2026-08-29) | Supported, behaves as documented |
| LibreOffice Calc | Yes | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-07-29) | Supported, behaves as documented |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when STDEV.P’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-29 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-08-29 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Supported, behaves as documented | 2026-07-29 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =STDEV.P(A1:A8) | Population standard deviation on the SAME dataset {2,4,4,4,5,5,7,9} used for STDEV/STDEV.S - divides by n instead of n-1, giving a smaller, exact result (2) vs the sample stdev's 2.138089935299395 | 2 | 2ProvenancePopulation variance=32/8=4 exactly; sqrt(4)=2 |
Matched |
| =STDEV.P(A1:A2) | Same two-point data as the sample-stdev cases (10,20) but population formula divides by n=2 instead of n-1=1, giving a much smaller result | 5 | 5ProvenancePopulation variance=((10-15)^2+(20-15)^2)/2=25; sqrt(25)=5, vs sample stdev's 7.0710678118654755 on identical data |
Matched |
| =STDEV.P(A1:A1) | Unlike STDEV.S/STDEV, a single value does NOT error for the population formula, since it divides by n (=1), not n-1 | 0 | 0ProvenancePopulation variance of one point = 0/1 = 0, a valid result - genuine divergence from STDEV.S's #DIV/0! on the same single-cell input |
Matched |
Google Sheets (executed 2026-08-29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =STDEV.P(A1:A8) | Population standard deviation on the SAME dataset {2,4,4,4,5,5,7,9} used for STDEV/STDEV.S - divides by n instead of n-1, giving a smaller, exact result (2) vs the sample stdev's 2.138089935299395 | 2 | 2ProvenancePopulation variance=32/8=4 exactly; sqrt(4)=2 |
Matched |
| =STDEV.P(A1:A2) | Same two-point data as the sample-stdev cases (10,20) but population formula divides by n=2 instead of n-1=1, giving a much smaller result | 5 | 5ProvenancePopulation variance=((10-15)^2+(20-15)^2)/2=25; sqrt(25)=5, vs sample stdev's 7.0710678118654755 on identical data |
Matched |
| =STDEV.P(A1:A1) | Unlike STDEV.S/STDEV, a single value does NOT error for the population formula, since it divides by n (=1), not n-1 | 0 | 0ProvenancePopulation variance of one point = 0/1 = 0, a valid result - genuine divergence from STDEV.S's #DIV/0! on the same single-cell input |
Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-07-29)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =STDEV.P(A1:A8) | Population standard deviation on the SAME dataset {2,4,4,4,5,5,7,9} used for STDEV/STDEV.S - divides by n instead of n-1, giving a smaller, exact result (2) vs the sample stdev's 2.138089935299395 | 2 | 2ProvenancePopulation variance=32/8=4 exactly; sqrt(4)=2 |
Matched |
| =STDEV.P(A1:A2) | Same two-point data as the sample-stdev cases (10,20) but population formula divides by n=2 instead of n-1=1, giving a much smaller result | 5 | 5ProvenancePopulation variance=((10-15)^2+(20-15)^2)/2=25; sqrt(25)=5, vs sample stdev's 7.0710678118654755 on identical data |
Matched |
| =STDEV.P(A1:A1) | Unlike STDEV.S/STDEV, a single value does NOT error for the population formula, since it divides by n (=1), not n-1 | 0 | 0ProvenancePopulation variance of one point = 0/1 = 0, a valid result - genuine divergence from STDEV.S's #DIV/0! on the same single-cell input |
Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation