How to Calculate Variance in Excel on PC or Mac

This wikiHow teaches you how to select a range of data in Excel and calculate its variance, using a computer.

Steps

  1. Image titled Calculate Variance in Excel on PC or Mac Step 1
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    Open the Excel file you want to edit. Find the Excel file you want to edit on your computer, and open it.
  2. Image titled Calculate Variance in Excel on PC or Mac Step 2
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    Click an empty cell. Find an empty cell on the sheet where you want to make your calculations, and click it.
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  3. Image titled Calculate Variance in Excel on PC or Mac Step 3
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    Click the fx button. This button is located next to the formula bar in the upper-left corner of your spreadsheet. It will open the Formula Builder panel on the right-hand side of your screen.
  4. Image titled Calculate Variance in Excel on PC or Mac Step 4
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    Scroll down and double-click VAR.P. This function calculates variance based on the entire population. Double-clicking will insert the empty variance function into the selected cell.
    • Alternatively, you can select VAR.S. This function estimates variance based on a sample instead of calculating an entire population's variance.
  5. Image titled Calculate Variance in Excel on PC or Mac Step 5
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    Select the range of data you want to plug into the formula. Click your first data point on the spreadsheet, and drag the mouse until the end of the data set. This will plug all the values in the selected range into your variance formula.
  6. Image titled Calculate Variance in Excel on PC or Mac Step 6
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    Hit Enter or Return on your keyboard. This will process the selected data set, and calculate its variance. The numeric result will show up in the selected cell.
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wikiHow Staff
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff
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This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 9,323 times.
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Co-authors: 1
Updated: February 26, 2018
Views: 9,323
Categories: Microsoft Excel
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