PHI Function in Excel: Standard Normal Density

PHI Function in Excel: Standard Normal Density 1
⏱ 1 min readUpdated 5 October 2026

StatisticsLevel: ExpertAvailable in: Excel 2013+

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

PHI returns the height of the standard normal curve at z, the same as NORM.S.DIST(z, FALSE).

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Syntax

=PHI(x)
Argument What it means
x z value

Examples

Example 1

=ROUND(PHI(A2),4)

Result: 0.3989. See the worked example table below for more cases.

PHI in practice

Where you will use it

  • Drawing a bell curve in a chart
  • Statistics formulas
  • Teaching

Worked example

zFormulaResult
0=ROUND(PHI(A2),4)0.3989
1=ROUND(PHI(A3),4)0.242
2=ROUND(PHI(A4),4)0.054

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

MistakeWhat to do instead
Reading it as a probabilityIt's a density height, not a probability
Expecting cumulativeUse NORM.S.DIST(z,TRUE)

NORM.S.DIST · GAUSS

📚 Part of the free Excel course: Beginner → Expert · Try it in the Formula Lab or ask the AI Helper.

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