CHISQ.DIST Function in Excel: Chi-Square Distribution (Left Tail)

CHISQ.DIST Function in Excel: Chi-Square Distribution (Left Tail) 1
⏱ 1 min readUpdated 12 October 2026

StatisticsLevel: ExpertAvailable in: Excel 2010+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. CHISQ.DIST in practice
  5. Where you will use it
  6. Worked example
  7. Mistakes people make
  8. Related functions

CHISQ.DIST gives the left-tailed chi-square probability; most tests need the right tail, CHISQ.DIST.RT.

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Syntax

=CHISQ.DIST(x, deg_freedom, cumulative)
Argument What it means
x Chi-square value
deg_freedom Degrees of freedom
cumulative TRUE for the probability

Examples

Example 1

=ROUND(CHISQ.DIST(A2,B2,TRUE),4)

Result: 0.95. See the worked example table below for more cases.

CHISQ.DIST in practice

Where you will use it

  • Variance tests
  • Teaching statistics
  • Building chi-square tables

Worked example

xdfFormulaResult
3.841=ROUND(CHISQ.DIST(A2,B2,TRUE),4)0.95
7.813=ROUND(CHISQ.DIST(A3,B3,TRUE),4)0.9499
11.075=ROUND(CHISQ.DIST(A4,B4,TRUE),4)0.95

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

MistakeWhat to do instead
Using the left tail for a testHypothesis tests use CHISQ.DIST.RT or CHISQ.TEST
Negative x#NUM!

CHISQ.DIST.RT · CHISQ.TEST

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