NORMSINV in WPS Spreadsheet: Find a Standard-Normal Percentile

=NORMSINV(0.975) has an independently calculated expectation of 1.959963984540. It returns a standard-normal z-score with 97.5% of the distribution below it and 2.5% above it. The standard normal has mean 0 and standard deviation 1.

NORMSINV(probability)

The single required argument is a numeric left cumulative probability. Use strict interior values, 0 < probability < 1. You can enter 0.975 or 97.5%; entering 97.5 is not a probability. There are no mean, standard-deviation or cumulative-switch arguments in this signature.

Enter 0.975 in B2 and label A2 Left probability. In C2 enter =NORMSINV(B2). Expect approximately 1.959963984540 under the documented model. This is a dimensionless standardized value, not a percentage and not a measurement in your original units.

The independent control solves Φ(z)=0.975 using a standard-normal inverse calculation. The WPS lesson likewise defines the operation by NORMSDIST(z)=probability, but this guide has not executed that round trip in WPS.

The 0.025 and 0.975 results have opposite signs. A negative z-score is normal when the left probability is below 0.5; do not take its absolute value unless the statistical question calls for that transformation.

If a suitable normal model has mean 100 and standard deviation 15, a central 95% interval for its individual values can be calculated with:

=100+15*NORMSINV(0.025)
=100+15*NORMSINV(0.975)

Independent expectations are 70.600540231899 and 129.399459768101. Splitting the total 5% equally is essential: using 0.05 and 0.95 would make a central 90% interval. These endpoints are not automatically a confidence interval for the mean, and they do not include uncertainty from estimating model parameters.

The WPS lesson documents #VALUE! for nonnumeric probability and describes iterative inversion. Its error bullet uses the different name NORMINV, and its walkthrough says 0 and 1 are included. Finite standard-normal quantiles do not exist at those endpoints. This guide therefore avoids them and makes no exact WPS endpoint-error claim.

NORMSINV is retained here as its own documented legacy spelling. The lesson does not establish that every build implements it identically to NORM.S.INV or establish a retirement date. An unfamiliar-function error should prompt a check of the installed edition’s help and spelling, not an assumption that a result from another spreadsheet is a WPS test. Extreme-tail precision and the lesson’s historical iteration limit remain unverified in current builds.

The official WPS NORMSINV lesson was checked on October 19, 2026. The captured source does not establish a specific edition or numeric build. This Chinese first-party documentation is not proof of universal English-global, Mac, Linux, web or mobile support. Introduction and retirement versions remain unknown. All numerical results in this guide are independently calculated expectations, not native WPS test results or borrowed Excel outputs. Current GUI access was unavailable; no current-application screenshots or native execution are claimed.

NORMSDIST, NORMINV. Browse the WPS function library.