by The tutorial shows how to create multiple IF statements in Excel with AND as well as OR logic. Also, you will learn how to use IF together with other Excel functions.
In the first part of our Excel IF tutorial, we looked at how to construct a simple IF statement with one condition for text, numbers, dates, blanks and non-blanks. For powerful data analysis, however, you may often need to evaluate multiple conditions at a time. The below formula examples will show you the most effective ways to do this.
How to use IF function with multiple conditions
In essence, there are two types of the IF formula with multiple criteria based on the AND / OR logic. Consequently, in the logical test of your IF formula, you should use one of these functions:
- AND function - returns TRUE if all the conditions are met; FALSE otherwise.
- OR function - returns TRUE if any single condition is met; FALSE otherwise.
To better illustrate the point, let's investigate some real-life formulas examples.
Excel IF statement with multiple conditions (AND logic)
The generic formula of Excel IF with two or more conditions is this:
Translated into a human language, the formula says: If condition 1 is true AND condition 2 is true, return value_if_true; else return value_if_false.
Suppose you have a table listing the scores of two tests in columns B and C. To pass the final exam, a student must have both scores greater than 50.
For the logical test, you use the following AND statement: AND(B2>50, C2>50)
If both conditions are true, the formula will return "Pass"; if any condition is false - "Fail".
=IF(AND(B2>50, B2>50), "Pass", "Fail")
Easy, isn't it? The screenshot below proves that our Excel IF /AND formula works right:
In a similar manner, you can use the Excel IF function with multiple text conditions.
For instance, to output "Good" if both B2 and C2 are greater than 50, "Bad" otherwise, the formula is:
=IF(AND(B2="pass", C2="pass"), "Good!", "Bad")
Important note! The AND function checks all the conditions, even if the already tested one(s) evaluated to FALSE. Such behavior is a bit unusual since in most of programming languages, subsequent conditions are not tested if any of the previous tests has returned FALSE.
In practice, a seemingly correct IF statement may result in an error because of this specificity. For example, the below formula would return #DIV/0! ("divide by zero" error) if cell A2 is equal to 0:
=IF(AND(A2<>0, (1/A2)>0.5),"Good", "Bad")
The avoid this, you should use a nested IF function:
=IF(A2<>0, IF((1/A2)>0.5, "Good", "Bad"), "Bad")
For more information, please see IF AND formula in Excel.
Excel IF function with multiple conditions (OR logic)
To do one thing if any condition is met, otherwise do something else, use this combination of the IF and OR functions:
The difference from the IF / AND formula discussed above is that Excel returns TRUE if any of the specified conditions is true.
So, if in the previous formula, we use OR instead of AND:
=IF(OR(B2>50, B2>50), "Pass", "Fail")
Then anyone who has more than 50 points in either exam will get "Pass" in column D. With such conditions, our students have a better chance to pass the final exam (Yvette being particularly unlucky failing by just 1 point :)
Tip. In case you are creating a multiple IF statement with text and testing a value in one cell with the OR logic (i.e. a cell can be "this" or "that"), then you can build a more compact formula using an array constant.
For example, to mark a sale as "closed" if cell B2 is either "delivered" or "paid", the formula is:
=IF(OR(B2={"delivered", "paid"}), "Closed", "")
More formula examples can be found in Excel IF OR function.
IF with multiple AND & OR statements
If your task requires evaluating several sets of multiple conditions, you will have to utilize both AND & OR functions at a time.
In our sample table, suppose you have the following criteria for checking the exam results:
- Condition 1: exam1>50 and exam2>50
- Condition 2: exam1>40 and exam2>60
If either of the conditions is met, the final exam is deemed passed.
At first sight, the formula seems a little tricky, but in fact it is not! You just express each of the above conditions as an AND statement and nest them in the OR function (since it's not necessary to meet both conditions, either will suffice):
OR(AND(B2>50, C2>50), AND(B2>40, C2>60)
Then, use the OR function for the logical test of IF and supply the desired value_if_true and value_if_false values. As the result, you get the following IF formula with multiple AND / OR conditions:
=IF(OR(AND(B2>50, C2>50), AND(B2>40, C2>60), "Pass", "Fail")
The screenshot below indicates that we've done the formula right:
Naturally, you are not limited to using only two AND/OR functions in your IF formulas. You can use as many of them as your business logic requires, provided that:
- In Excel 2007 and higher, you have no more than 255 arguments, and the total length of the IF formula does not exceed 8,192 characters.
- In Excel 2003 and lower, there are no more than 30 arguments, and the total length of your IF formula does not exceed 1,024 characters.
Nested IF statement to check multiple logical tests
If you want to evaluate multiple logical tests within a single formula, then you can nest several functions one into another. Such functions are called nested IF functions. They prove particularly useful when you wish to return different values depending on the logical tests' results.
Here's a typical example: suppose you want to qualify the students' achievements as "Good", "Satisfactory" and "Poor" based on the following scores:
- Good: 60 or more (>=60)
- Satisfactory: between 40 and 60 (>40 and <60)
- Poor: 40 or less (<=40)
Before writing a formula, consider the order of functions you are going to nest. Excel will evaluate the logical tests in the order they appear in the formula. Once a condition evaluates to TRUE, the subsequent conditions are not tested, meaning the formula stops after the first TRUE result.
In our case, the functions are arranged from largest to smallest:
=IF(B2>=60, "Good", IF(B2>40, "Satisfactory", "Poor"))
Naturally, you can nest more functions if needed (up to 64 in modern versions).
For more information, please see How to use multiple nested IF statements in Excel.
Excel IF array formula with multiple conditions
Another way to get an Excel IF to test multiple conditions is by using an array formula.
To evaluate conditions with the AND logic, use the asterisk:
To test conditions with the OR logic, use the plus sign:
To complete an array formula correctly, press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys together. In Excel 365 and Excel 2021, this also works as a regular formula due to support for dynamic arrays.
For example, to get "Pass" if both B2 and C2 are greater than 50, the formula is:
=IF((B2>50) * (C2>50), "Pass", "Fail")
In my Excel 365, a normal formula works just fine (as you can see in the screenshots above). In Excel 2019 and lower, remember to make it an array formula by using the Ctrl + Shift + Enter shortcut.
To evaluate multiple conditions with the OR logic, the formula is:
=IF((B2>50) + (C2>50), "Pass", "Fail")
Using IF together with other functions
This section explains how to use IF in combination with other Excel functions and what benefits this gives to you.
Example 1. If #N/A error in VLOOKUP
When VLOOKUP or other lookup function cannot find something, it returns a #N/A error. To make your tables look nicer, you can return zero, blank, or specific text if #N/A. For this, use this generic formula:
For example:
If #N/A return 0:
If the lookup value in E1 is not found, the formula returns zero.
=IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(E1, A2:B10, 2,FALSE )), 0, VLOOKUP(E1, A2:B10, 2, FALSE))
If #N/A return blank:
If the lookup value is not found, the formula returns nothing (an empty string).
=IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(E1, A2:B10, 2,FALSE )), "", VLOOKUP(E1, A2:B10, 2, FALSE))
If #N/A return certain text:
If the lookup value is not found, the formula returns specific text.
=IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(E1, A2:B10, 2,FALSE )), "Not found", VLOOKUP(E1, A2:B10, 2, FALSE))
For more formula examples, please see VLOOKUP with IF statement in Excel.
Example 2. IF with SUM, AVERAGE, MIN and MAX functions
To sum cell values based on certain criteria, Excel provides the SUMIF and SUMIFS functions.
In some situations, your business logic may require including the SUM function in the logical test of IF. For example, to return different text labels depending on the sum of the values in B2 and C2, the formula is:
=IF(SUM(B2:C2)>130, "Good", IF(SUM(B2:C2)>110, "Satisfactory", "Poor"))
If the sum is greater than 130, the result is "good"; if greater than 110 – "satisfactory', if 110 or lower – "poor".
In a similar fashion, you can embed the AVERAGE function in the logical test of IF and return different labels based on the average score:
=IF(AVERAGE(B2:C2)>65, "Good", IF(AVERAGE(B2:C2)>55, "Satisfactory", "Poor"))
Assuming the total score is in column D, you can identify the highest and lowest values with the help of the MAX and MIN functions:
=IF(D2=MAX($D$2:$D$10), "Best result", "")
=IF(D2=MAX($D$2:$D$10), "Best result", "")
To have both labels in one column, nest the above functions one into another:
=IF(D2=MAX($D$2:$D$10), "Best result", IF(D2=MIN($D$2:$D$10), "Worst result", ""))
Likewise, you can use IF together with your custom functions. For example, you can combine it with GetCellColor or GetCellFontColor to return different results based on a cell color.
In addition, Excel provides a number of functions to calculate data based on conditions. For detailed formula examples, please check out the following tutorials:
Example 3. IF with ISNUMBER, ISTEXT and ISBLANK
To identify text, numbers and blank cells, Microsoft Excel provides special functions such as ISTEXT, ISNUMBER and ISBLANK. By placing them in the logical tests of three nested IF statements, you can identify all different data types in one go:
=IF(ISTEXT(A2), "Text", IF(ISNUMBER(A2), "Number", IF(ISBLANK(A2), "Blank", "")))
Example 4. IF and CONCATENATE
To output the result of IF and some text into one cell, use the CONCATENATE or CONCAT (in Excel 2016 - 365) and IF functions together. For example:
=CONCATENATE("You performed ", IF(B1>100,"fantastic!", IF(B1>50, "well", "poor")))
=CONCAT("You performed ", IF(B1>100,"fantastic!", IF(B1>50, "well", "poor")))
Looking at the screenshot below, you'll hardly need any explanation of what the formula does:
IF ISERROR / ISNA formula in Excel
The modern versions of Excel have special functions to trap errors and replace them with another calculation or predefined value - IFERROR (in Excel 2007 and later) and IFNA (in Excel 2013 and later). In earlier Excel versions, you can use the IF ISERROR and IF ISNA combinations instead.
The difference is that IFERROR and ISERROR handle all possible Excel errors, including #VALUE!, #N/A, #NAME?, #REF!, #NUM!, #DIV/0!, and #NULL!. While IFNA and ISNA specialize solely in #N/A errors.
For example, to replace the "divide by zero" error (#DIV/0!) with your custom text, you can use the following formula:
=IF(ISERROR(A2/B2), "N/A", A2/B2)
And that's all I have to say about using the IF function in Excel. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!
Practice workbook for download
Excel IF multiple criteria - examples (.xlsx file)
4530 comments
Hi Svetlana,
I am trying to obtain the most recent date from four different cells and want the data to return first if the most recent date is in cell AM4, second if the most recent date is in cell BH4, third if the most recent date is in cell CC4 and Fourth if the most recent date is in cell CX4. I am currently using the below formula which doesn't work if the most recent date is in cell CX4 and should return Fourth. Can you assist please?
=IF(AND(AM4>BH4,AM4>CC4),"FIRST",IF(AND(BH4>AM4,BH4>CC4),"SECOND",IF(AND(CC4>AM4,CC4>BH4),"THIRD",IF(AND(CX4>AM4,CX4>BH4>CC4),"FOURTH",""))))
I have now done this. Thanks
=IF(AND(AM3>BH3,AM3>CC3,AM3>CX3),"FIRST",IF(AND(BH3>AM3,BH3>CC3,BH3>CX3),"SECOND",IF(AND(CC3>AM3,CC3>BH3,CC3>CX3),"THIRD",IF(AND(CX3>AM3,CX3>BH3,CX3>CC3),"FOURTH",""))))
Very helpful article, thanks.
I have a question though...
I want a formula to return one of, say, 3 results based on the contents of a (source) cell on the same row but only if one specific string is present in that source cell and the result is defined by another specific string within the source cell.
EG the source cell has "3m long Rubber cable" in it. The cables can only be 3m, 5m or 10m long but they can also be 'PVC' and 'High Temperature' types. So, in the example above, the formaula in the 'result' cell should return '3' because the word 'Rubber' is present in the source cell, and 3m is the length of the cable.
I had been trying to use the 'IF(ISNUMBER(FIND("abc",[source cell reference])), [result],) formula which will work with half of my problem but how to combine it with more to pick not only 2 strings but also multiple alternatives is beyond me.
Hope that's clear. Regards, Martin Winlow.
Hello I am working on a spreadsheet and need help with a formula.
If today's date is between the dates in C1 (8/31) and E1(9/7) I want it to display the data in cell D3, if todays date is between the dates in E1 (9/7) and G1 (9/14) then display the data in Cell (F3). Can someone please help me?
Thank you in advance
Please help me come up with a formulae to do the both the following in one go
there are 6 Subjects , I need to give grades for average marks above 90,80,70,60,50,35 and below 35 A,B,C,D,E, Pass and Fail respectively. Also if single subjects are lesser than 35 then it should be fail
please let me know the if function for the above
Hi,
Below condition is not working
IF(OR(A1=C1,B1*D1),IF(A1=C2,B2*D2),IF(A1=C3,B3*D3))
Column A Column B Column C Column D
B81234 16 B91456 $8,995.00
B81345 19 B81234 $4,887.50
B91456 27 B81345 $5,391.00
can anyone help me
Manish
Hi Manish,
I believe the correct syntax is as follows:
=IF(A1=C1, B1*D1, IF(A1=C2, B2*D2, IF(A1=C3, B3*D3, "")))
Good Morning, I'm trying to achieve the following:
IF column "FIRST NAME" OR column "SECOND NAME" contains "Ltd" OR "Plc" THEN Message "company details must be entered in the "TITLE" column".
Can you help please?
Hiya,
Please help me come up with a formulae to do the both the following in one go
PQ63483C to become PQ63483
CRD63483C to become CRD63483
In essence just to copy but remove the final C off of any data put in the A Column
I keep experimenting and I can't seem to work out a conditional formulae that works for both
hi, I'm trying to write a formula that returns a traffic light system with the following
cell A2=TODAY()
cell B2=Due date (01/11/15)
cell C2=date project to be started (01/09/15)
cell d2=Completed
i want the traffic light return green if due date is more than 2 months away
i want the traffic light to return yellow if due date is within the next two months
i want the traffic light to return red if due date is greater than today
i want the traffic light to return green if completed
can anyone help me with this please
thanks
Andy
how will i do the "if" function for the ledger account, for example CASH
CASH
Debit Credit
8000 5000
-----------------------------
3000 Balance
and what if the "credit" balance exceeds the "debit" balance
how will i use the "if" function to make the credit balance be written under the credit column.
Thanks
Hi Josselle,
Let me check if I understand the task correctly.
If Debit (A2) is greater than or equal to Credit (B2), we calculate the difference (Debit-Credit). If Credit is greater than Debit, we return the Credit number.
If so, you can use the following formula:
=IF(A2>=B2, A2-B2, B2)
If you are looking for something different, please clarify.
APOLOGIES ... THIS IS THE FULL FORMULA I HAVE:
=IF(F2>=11,"Late",IF(F2>=-10,"On Time",IF(F2<=-11,"Early")))
I want to include in the middle part/argument, that if C2 (which is a particular date) to say "CR ON TIME"
Hi Robin,
If my understanding is correct, you can add one more IF to the formula, like this:
=IF(C2<>"", "CR ON TIME", IF(F2>=11, "Late", IF(F2>=-10, "On Time", IF(F2<=-11, "Early"))))
I need help!!!
I have this following formula:
=IF(F2>=11,"Late",IF(F2>=-10,"On Time",IF(F2=10 to say on time or if c2 (has a date) to say "CR On Time" ...does this make sense???!
Hi Iira,
You can add another IF function to the formula, like this:
=IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)='Fee summary'!G5,'Fee summary'!G5, IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)<'Fee summary'!G5, "ERROR > "&'Fee summary'!G5, "")) Please note, the formula returns an empty string if your sum is greater than in 'Fee summary'!G5.
Thank you so much Svetlana for your advice.
I have changed it slightly to add the opposite text.
=IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)='Fee Summary'!G5,'Fee Summary'!G5, IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)<'Fee Summary'!G5, "ERROR £"&'Fee Summary'!G5))
I'd like to ask you one more question. If I don't have any values in F4, F5,F6,F7, I'd like also to write the value of 'Fee Summary'!G5. Where do I need to add that condition in the formula? It's a kind of AND/OR I guess...
At the moment it says:
=IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)='Fee Summary'!G5,'Fee Summary'!G5
It would be another condition into that one...Do you think it's possible?
Something like (but added to rest of the formula):
=IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)=0,'Fee Summary'!G5
Thank you very much for all your help.
Yep, the OR statement is what you need:
=IF(OR(F4+F5+F6+F7)='Fee Summary'!G5, (F4+F5+F6+F7)=0),'Fee Summary'!G5, IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)<'Fee Summary'!G5, "ERROR £"&'Fee Summary'!G5))
Hi,
I need help with a formula that related to a cell in a different sheet.
I did this formula:
=IF((F4+F5+F6+F7)='Fee Summary'!G5,'Fee Summary'!G5,"ERROR")
However, I know need to return a value:
If my sum is < than the value in 'Fee Summary'!G5, I need to write "ERROR"ERROR> (and the value in 'Fee Summary'!G5) and if it's equal, just return the value.
I would appreciate any help to sort it out. Thanks!
Hi Svetlana
I would like to start by thanking you for such a great website. Your examples and explanations I find are very clear and easy to follow. I was wondering if you could help me with a formula. I used a copy of one above to write the following:
=IF(OR(AND(D2=11, L2>10), AND(D2=12,O2>10), AND(D2=13,R2>10)),"OK","NO") and this works fine.
But I want to now return extra results based on the second condition. For instance if D2=11 and L2>10 "Yes" or if L2 is between 6-8 "OK" or L2<8 "NO" and I want it to repeat for D2=12 and D2=13?
I hope this makes sense to you. Thank you for any help you could offer. I would really appreciate it.
Hi Svetlana,
i need help on the below.i am working on a formula for calculating diesel use.
CELL A. Indoor or Outdoor
Cell B. 20
Cell C. 31
i want the following conditions to apply.
if CELL A is either indoor or outdoor, & CELL C is > Cell B, then return value "high", if if CELL A is outdoor, & CELL B is > Cell C with a value greater than 3 , then return value "Low", if however CELL A is Indoor and 50% greater than CELL C, then return value "too high" otherwise pass
i hope this is clear enough
Hi Chidike,
You can use a nested IF formula similar to this:
= IF(AND(A2="outdoor", C2>B2, B2>3), "low", IF(AND(A2="indoor", (B2-C2)/C2>0.5), "too high", IF(AND(OR(A2="outdoor", A2="indoor"), C2>B2), "high", "pass")))
suppose i have 4 columns like A B C D, and i want to use IF foumula. A column contains xxx & others & B column yyyy & other. then if a columns contains xxx & b columns contains yyy then how should i use if formula
Hi Pirsabm,
You can include the AND statement in the logical test, like this:
=IF(AND(A1="xxx", B1="yyy"), value_if_true, value_if_false)
Hi, i just wanted to know that if we had 7 columns containing different numbers and if any of 2 columns had 0 value then should be considered dis qualified.
Hi Hadi,
You can use a formula similar to this:
=IF(COUNTIF($A1:$G1, 0)>1, "dis", "")
o thanks svetlana, it was so easy and very very helpful. thanks alot....
Hello, I am trying to get column E to be the result of column C +D. IF columns C+D=2, then "0" IF columns C+D>2,"1" but I am not sure how to do this so the entire column is calculated (row by row). Please tell me I do not have to go through individually with the command (I have over 2000 rows). Thank you!
Hello ELISE,
You can enter the following formula in cell E1 and then copy it down to other cells in the column by selecting E1 and dragging down the fill handle:
=IF(C1+D1=2, 0, IF(C1+D1>2, 1, ""))
Please note that if C1+D1<2, the formula will return an empty string (blank cell).
Hi Svetlana,
0-15 days - 0%
15-30 days - 5%
31-50 days - 10%
>50 days - 15%
I would like to receive a formula for said %. Can you pls help me.
Regards,
Madhu Babu
Good afternoon Svetlana,
I really need some help on this, I am working on a time sheet and where I am trying to execute the following:
(time out-time in)-meal break time. The output will go into the column "regular time". That is no problem and easily accomplished. The hitch is I want the out to go to the column "vacation time" if the block in the column "Vacation day" has a Y in in it. To summarize I am trying to get:
"(Time out-Time in)-Meal break=regular time, if Vacation day="Y" then (Time out-Time in)-Meal break=Vacation time."
I hope this makes sense and I really appreciate the assistance!!
Thank you in advance for the help!!
Kind regards,
Raymond