ERF Function in Excel: Error Function

ERF Function in Excel: Error Function 1
⏱ 1 min readUpdated 5 October 2026

EngineeringLevel: ExpertAvailable in: Excel 2007+

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

ERF returns the error function between 0 and x (or between two limits), used in probability and diffusion.

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Syntax

=ERF(x)
Argument What it means
x Value

Examples

Example 1

=ROUND(ERF(A2),5)

Result: 0.5205. See the worked example table below for more cases.

ERF in practice

Where you will use it

  • Probability of measurement errors within limits
  • Diffusion and heat equations
  • Signal processing

Worked example

xFormulaResult
0.5=ROUND(ERF(A2),5)0.5205
1=ROUND(ERF(A3),5)0.8427
2=ROUND(ERF(A4),5)0.99532

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

MistakeWhat to do instead
Confusing with NORM.S.DISTERF(x/SQRT(2)) = 2*NORM.S.DIST(x)-1
Negative x in old ERFOlder versions gave #NUM!; ERF.PRECISE accepts negatives

ERF · ERFC · NORM.S.DIST

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