How does Naïve Bayes handle missing data in features?

Updated May 17, 2026

Short answer

Naïve Bayes naturally ignores missing features by excluding them from likelihood computation.

Deep explanation

Since Naïve Bayes computes product of independent feature likelihoods, missing features can simply be skipped without affecting others. This makes it robust in incomplete data scenarios. However, proper handling still depends on implementation and feature encoding strategy.

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