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How to calculate standard deviation in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:RANK & statistical aggregatesHeads up: Excel and Google Sheets do this differently.
Excel
=STDEV.S(B2:B6)Google Sheets
=STDEV(B2:B6)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Test | Result |
| Trial 1 | 45 |
| Trial 2 | 52 |
| Trial 3 | 49 |
| Trial 4 | 55 |
| Trial 5 | 48 |
=STDEV.S(B2:B6)→3.8340579025
Try it with your data
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Step by step
- 1Select the output cell.
- 2In Excel, type =STDEV.S(B2:B6) for a sample standard deviation.
- 3In Google Sheets, type =STDEV(B2:B6) — it calculates sample standard deviation by default.
- 4For population standard deviation: Excel uses =STDEV.P(B2:B6); Google Sheets uses =STDEVP(B2:B6).
- 5Press Enter.
Tips
- STDEV.S (sample) divides by N-1; STDEV.P (population) divides by N. Use sample when your data is a subset of a larger group.
- The older STDEV function in Excel is equivalent to STDEV.S and is kept for backward compatibility.
- Google Sheets supports both STDEV (sample) and STDEVP (population).
- STDEVA and STDEVPA include logical TRUE/FALSE values in the calculation.
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Frequently asked
When should I use STDEV.S versus STDEV.P?
Use STDEV.S when your data is a sample drawn from a larger population (most real-world scenarios). Use STDEV.P only when you have data for the entire population.
Why are Excel and Google Sheets function names different?
Excel introduced STDEV.S and STDEV.P in 2010 for clarity. Google Sheets retained the older names STDEV and STDEVP. Both compute the same formulas.
More on RANK & statistical aggregates
See all →Reference
RANK.EQ
Returns the rank of a number in a list, assigning the same rank to ties (same as RANK). Essential for leaderboards.
How-toHow to rank values
Rank a number against a list with RANK — highest first or lowest first. Works the same in Excel and Google Sheets.
ReferenceRANK.AVG
Returns the rank of a number, averaging ranks for ties. Useful in statistical analysis where tied ranks should not cluster.
How-toHow to calculate standard deviation
Measure how spread out your numbers are with STDEV for a sample or STDEVP for a whole population. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.
ReferencePERCENTILE
Returns the k-th percentile value from a dataset. Useful for performance benchmarking and threshold analysis.
How-toHow to calculate a weighted average
Combine values and their weights with SUMPRODUCT divided by the total weight. Works the same in Excel and Google Sheets.