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VAR.S

Supported, behaves as documented

Category: Statistical · Last tested 2026-08-06

Real, executed compatibility results for the VAR.S function across Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc — verified by actually running it. Syntax and links to each vendor’s official documentation are below.

Support matrix

EngineDocumentedLive-testedVerdict
Excel Yes Not yet n/a
Google Sheets Yes Not yet n/a
LibreOffice Calc Yes Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-08-06) Supported, behaves as documented

LibreOffice version history

We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when VAR.S’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.

LibreOffice versionVerdictTested
24.2.0.3 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-07-19
24.8.7.2 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-07-19
25.2.0.3 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-07-24
25.8.7.3 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-08-06

Executed test cases

LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-06)

FormulaDescriptionResultExpectedVerdict
=VAR.S(A1:A2) Sample variance of two hand-verifiable values 50 50
Mean=15; sample variance=((10-15)^2+(20-15)^2)/(2-1)=50		 Matched
=VAR.S(A1:A8) Sample variance on the classic {2,4,4,4,5,5,7,9} dataset; this is the square of STDEV.S_matches_STDEV_same_data's result (2.138089935299395^2) 4.57142857142857 4.571428571428571
32/7=4.571428571428571		 Matched
=VAR.S(A1:A3) Sample variance over negative numbers 4 4
Mean=-4; sample variance=((-2+4)^2+(-4+4)^2+(-6+4)^2)/(3-1)=(4+0+4)/2=4		 Matched
=VAR.S(A1:A1) Sample variance needs n>=2 (divides by n-1); one value -> #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! Matched

Docs & syntax