How to Calculate Standard Deviation in Microsoft Excel Using Functions

Step-by-step tutorial for the STDEV functions

This wikiHow shows you how to find the standard deviation of a dataset in Microsoft Excel. Whether you’re studying for statistics, analyzing data at work, or just researching something for fun, calculating a standard deviation is essential. And, it’s pretty easy to do in Excel! There are built-in functions for calculating the standard deviation.

Things You Should Know

  • There are four functions for calculating standard deviation.
  • STDEV.P and STDEV.S cover most situations. Use STDEV.P for populations and STDEV.S for samples.
  • The function will calculate the standard deviation for a selected range of cells.

Steps

  1. Image titled Calculate Standard Deviation in Excel Step 1
    1
    Enter the values you want to use. Pick a column in which you want to enter your data, then type each data value into individual cells in that column. Using Excel is a great way to organize and analyze your data.
    • For example, if you select column "A" as the area in which to enter your data, you might type a number into cell A1, cell A2, cell A3, and so on.
    • If needed, you can move columns in your spreadsheet to organize your data.
  2. Image titled Choose a Recruitment Agency Step 21
    2
    Note this information about the different functions. There are four functions in Excel for calculating standard deviation. The functions differ in two ways:[1]
    • The selected function will either calculate the standard deviation for a sample (using n - 1) or a population (using n), where n is the sample size.
    • The selected function will include or exclude logical values (TRUE and FALSE) and text (numbers represented as text). TRUE is interpreted as a 1, while FALSE is 0.
    Advertisement
  3. Image titled Start a New Day Step 16
    3
    Choose a standard deviation function. Here are the four options for calculating standard deviation:
    • STDEV.P — Finds the standard deviation of a population. This function doesn’t include logical values or text.[2]
    • STDEV.S — Finds the standard deviation of a sample. This function doesn’t include logical values or text.[3]
    • STDEVA — Finds the standard deviation of a sample. This function does include logical values or text.[4]
    • STDEVPA — Finds the standard deviation of a population. This function does include logical values or text.[5]
    • There are also two outdated functions that have been replaced by the above functions. They are still present in Excel for backward compatibility reasons, but may be phased out in future versions.
      • STDEV — This function was replaced by STDEV.S. Finds the standard deviation of a sample. This function doesn’t include logical values or text.[6]
      • STDEVP — This function was replaced by STDEV.P. Finds the standard deviation of a population. This function doesn’t include logical values or text.[7]
  4. Image titled Calculate Standard Deviation in Excel Step 4
    4
    Click a blank cell. This should be the cell in which you want to display the standard deviation value. Doing so selects the cell.
  5. Image titled Calculate Standard Deviation in Excel Step 5
    5
    Type in the standard deviation function. In the cell you selected, enter the standard deviation function you want to use. Here is STDEV.S() as an example:
    • =STDEV.S()
  6. Image titled Calculate Standard Deviation in Excel Step 6
    6
    Add your value range. To do so:
    • In between the parentheses, type the letter and number of the cell containing your first data value.
    • Type a colon (:)
    • Type the letter and number of the last cell.
    • For example, if you entered your data in column "A" from rows 1 through 10, you would have =STDEV.S(A1:A10) typed here.
    • If you just want to display the standard deviation of the value of a few scattered cells such as A1, B3, and C5, you can type the cell names separated by commas (e.g., =STDEV.S(A1,B3,C5)).
  7. Image titled Calculate Standard Deviation in Excel Step 7
    7
    Press ↵ Enter. This will prompt Excel to run the formula, displaying the standard deviation of the selected cells in the formula's cell.
    8. Advertisement

Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I use Excel to calculate 2 standard deviations?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Use =STDEV(), and put your range of values in the parentheses. This can be 2 cells or 2 values (numbers).
Advertisement

Warnings

Advertisement

You Might Also Like

Create a Mortgage Calculator With Microsoft Excel
How to
Create a Mortgage Calculator With Microsoft Excel
Make a Spreadsheet in Excel
How to
Make a Spreadsheet in Excel
Unprotect an Excel Sheet
How to
Unprotect an Excel Sheet
Create a Timeline in ExcelHow to Create a Timeline in Excel: SmartArt, Templates, and More
Create a Graph in Excel
How to
Create a Graph in Excel
Change from Lowercase to Uppercase in Excel
How to
Change from Lowercase to Uppercase in Excel
Merge Cells in ExcelHow to Merge Cells in Microsoft Excel: A Quick Guide
Insert Pictures in Excel That Automatically Size to Fit Cells
How to
Insert Pictures in Excel That Automatically Size to Fit Cells
How to
Unhide Rows in Excel
Convert Excel to Word3 Easy Ways to Convert Microsoft Excel Data to Word
Use ExcelNew to Excel? Here's Super Easy Tricks to Get You Started
Find Duplicates in Excel
How to
Find Duplicates in Excel
Calculate Age on ExcelHow to Calculate Age on Microsoft Excel Using Functions
Link Sheets in Excel
How to
Link Sheets in Excel
Advertisement

References

  1. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/statistical-functions-reference-624dac86-a375-4435-bc25-76d659719ffd
  2. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/stdev-p-function-6e917c05-31a0-496f-ade7-4f4e7462f285
  3. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/stdev-s-function-7d69cf97-0c1f-4acf-be27-f3e83904cc23
  4. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/stdeva-function-5ff38888-7ea5-48de-9a6d-11ed73b29e9d
  5. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/stdevpa-function-5578d4d6-455a-4308-9991-d405afe2c28c
  6. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/stdev-function-51fecaaa-231e-4bbb-9230-33650a72c9b0
  7. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/stdevp-function-1f7c1c88-1bec-4422-8242-e9f7dc8bb195

About This Article

Kyle Smith
Written by:
Kyle Smith
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Smith. Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. This article has been viewed 441,856 times.
How helpful is this?
Co-authors: 7
Updated: February 25, 2023
Views: 441,856
Categories: Microsoft Excel
Advertisement