VAR
Supported, behaves as documentedCategory: Compatibility · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the VAR 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, 2026-08-04) | Supported, behaves as documented |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when VAR’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 | 2026-08-04 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =VAR(2,4,6) | Sample variance (divides by n-1) of three evenly spaced values | 4 | 4 | Matched |
| =VAR(A1:A5) | Sample variance read from a cell range | 10 | 10 | Matched |
| =VAR(10,20) | Two values 5 either side of the mean give a sample variance of 50 | 50 | 50 | Matched |
| =VAR(A1:A4) | Text and blank cells are ignored rather than counted | 4 | 4 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =VAR(2,4,6) | Sample variance (divides by n-1) of three evenly spaced values | 4 | 4 | Matched |
| =VAR(A1:A5) | Sample variance read from a cell range | 10 | 10 | Matched |
| =VAR(10,20) | Two values 5 either side of the mean give a sample variance of 50 | 50 | 50 | Matched |
| =VAR(A1:A4) | Text and blank cells are ignored rather than counted | 4 | 4 | Matched |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-04)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =VAR(2,4,6) | Sample variance (divides by n-1) of three evenly spaced values | 4 | 4 | Matched |
| =VAR(A1:A5) | Sample variance read from a cell range | 10 | 10 | Matched |
| =VAR(10,20) | Two values 5 either side of the mean give a sample variance of 50 | 50 | 50 | Matched |
| =VAR(A1:A4) | Text and blank cells are ignored rather than counted | 4 | 4 | Matched |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation
- Google Sheets: official documentation
- LibreOffice Calc: official documentation
Where VAR behaves differently
- MAXA, MINA, AVERAGEA, VARPA vs MAX, MIN, AVERAGE, VAR.P
The A-variants count text as 0 and TRUE as 1; the plain ones ignore them. Executed: LibreOffice implements all four A-variants faithfully, but its VAR.P returns 8.2222 on {4, 8, TRUE} where Microsoft documents 4 and Google Sheets returns 4 - a silent wrong number in all four builds tested.