by The tutorial explains how to use the nested IF function in Excel to check multiple conditions. You will also learn a few other functions that could be good alternatives to using a nested formula in Excel.
How do you usually implement a decision-making logic in your Excel worksheets? In most cases, you'd use an IF formula to test your condition and return one value if the condition is met, another value if the condition is not met. To evaluate more than one condition and return different values depending on the results, you nest multiple IFs inside each other.
Though very popular, the nested IF statement is not the only way to check multiple conditions in Excel. In this tutorial, you will find a handful of alternatives that are definitely worth exploring.
Excel nested IF statement
Here's the classic Excel nested IF formula in a generic form:
You can see that each subsequent IF function is embedded into the value_if_false argument of the previous function. Each IF function is enclosed in its own set of parentheses, but all the closing parentheses are at the end of the formula.
Our generic nested IF formula evaluates 3 conditions, and returns 4 different results (result 4 is returned if none of the conditions is TRUE). Translated into a human language, this nested IF statement tells Excel to do the following:
test condition2, if TRUE - return result2, if FALSE -
test condition3, if TRUE - return result3, if FALSE -
return result4
As an example, let's find out commissions for a number of sellers based on the amount of sales they've made:
| Commission | Sales |
| 3% | $1 - $50 |
| 5% | $51 - $100 |
| 7% | $101 - $150 |
| 10% | Over $150 |
In math, changing the order of addends does not change the sum. In Excel, changing the order of IF functions changes the result. Why? Because a nested IF formula returns a value corresponding to the first TRUE condition. Therefore, in your nested IF statements, it's very important to arrange the conditions in the right direction - high to low or low to high, depending on your formula's logic. In our case, we check the "highest" condition first, then the "second highest", and so on:
=IF(B2>150, 10%, IF(B2>=101, 7%, IF(B2>=51, 5%, IF(B2>=1, 3%, ""))))
If we placed the conditions in the reverse order, from the bottom up, the results would be all wrong because our formula would stop after the first logical test (B2>=1) for any value greater than 1. Let's say, we have $100 in sales - it is greater than 1, so the formula would not check other conditions and return 3% as the result.
If you'd rather arrange the conditions from low to high, then use the "less than" operator and evaluate the "lowest" condition first, then the "second lowest", and so on:
=IF($B2<1, 0%, IF($B2<51, 3%, IF($B2<101, 5%, IF($B2<=150, 7%, 10%))))
As you see, it takes quite a lot of thought to build the logic of a nested IF statement correctly all the way to the end. And although Microsoft Excel allows nesting up to 64 IF functions in one formula, it is not something you'd really want to do in your worksheets. So, if you (or someone else) are gazing at your Excel nested IF formula trying to figure out what it actually does, it's time to reconsider your strategy and probably choose another tool in your arsenal.
For more information, please see Excel nested IF statement.
Nested IF with OR/AND conditions
In case you need to evaluate a few sets of different conditions, you can express those conditions using OR as well as AND function, nest the functions inside IF statements, and then nest the IF statements into each other.
Nested IF in Excel with OR statements
By using the OR function you can check two or more different conditions in the logical test of each IF function and return TRUE if any (at least one) of the OR arguments evaluates to TRUE. To see how it actually works, please consider the following example.
Supposing, you have two columns of sales, say January sales in column B and February sales in column C. You wish to check the numbers in both columns and calculate the commission based on a higher number. In other words, you build a formula with the following logic: if either Jan or Feb sales are greater than $150, the seller gets 10% commission, if Jan or Feb sales are greater than or equal to $101, the seller gets 7% commission, and so on.
To have it done, write a few OF statements like OR(B2>150, C2>150) and nest them into the logical tests of the IF functions discussed above. As the result, you get this formula:
=IF(OR(B2>150, C2>150), 10%, IF(OR(B2>=101, C2>=101),7%, IF(OR(B2>=51, C2>=51), 5%, IF(OR(B2>=1, C2>=1), 3%, ""))))
And have the commission assigned based on the higher sales amount:
For more formula examples, please see Excel IF OR statement.
Nested IF in Excel with AND statements
If your logical tests include multiple conditions, and all of those conditions should evaluate to TRUE, express them by using the AND function.
For example, to assign the commissions based on a lower number of sales, take the above formula and replace OR with AND statements. To put it differently, you tell Excel to return 10% only if Jan and Feb sales are greater than $150, 7% if Jan and Feb sales are greater than or equal to $101, and so on.
=IF(AND(B2>150, C2>150), 10%, IF(AND(B2>=101, C2>=101), 7%, IF(AND(B2>=51, C2>=51), 5%, IF(AND(B2>=1, C2>=1), 3%, ""))))
As the result, our nested IF formula calculates the commission based on the lower number in columns B and C. If either column is empty, there is no commission at all because none of the AND conditions is met:
If you'd like to return 0% instead of blank cells, replace an empty string (''") in the last argument with 0%:
=IF(AND(B2>150, C2>150), 10%, IF(AND(B2>=101, C2>=101), 7%, IF(AND(B2>=51, C2>=51), 5%, IF(AND(B2>=1, C2>=1), 3%, 0%))))
More information can be found here: Excel IF with multiple AND/OR conditions.
VLOOKUP instead of nested IF in Excel
When you are dealing with "scales", i.e. continuous ranges of numerical values that together cover the entire range, in most cases you can use the VLOOKUP function instead of nested IFs.
For starters, make a reference table like shown in the screenshot below. And then, build a Vlookup formula with approximate match, i.e. with the range_lookup argument set to TRUE.
Assuming the lookup value is in B2 and the reference table is F2:G5, the formula goes as follows:
=VLOOKUP(B2,$F$2:$G$5,2,TRUE)
Please notice that we fix the table_array with absolute references ($F$2:$G$5) for the formula to copy correctly to other cells:
By setting the last argument of your Vlookup formula to TRUE, you tell Excel to search for the closest match - if an exact match is not found, return the next largest value that is smaller than the lookup value. As the result, your formula will match not only the exact values in the lookup table, but also any values that fall in between.
For example, the lookup value in B3 is $95. This number does not exist in the lookup table, and Vlookup with exact match would return an #N/A error in this case. But Vlookup with approximate match continues searching until it finds the nearest value that is less than the lookup value (which is $50 in our example) and returns a value from the second column in the same row (which is 5%).
But what if the lookup value is less than the smallest number in the lookup table or the lookup cell is empty? In this case, a Vlookup formula will return the #N/A error. If it's not what you actually want, nest VLOOKUP inside IFERROR and supply the value to output when the lookup value is not found. For example:
=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(B2, $F$2:$G$5, 2, TRUE), "Outside range")
Important note! For a Vlookup formula with approximate match to work correctly, the first column in the lookup table must be sorted in ascending order, from smallest to largest.
For more information, please see Exact match VLOOKUP vs. approximate match VLOOKUP.
IFS statement as alternative to nested IF function
In Excel 2016 and later versions, Microsoft introduced a special function to evaluate multiple conditions - the IFS function.
An IFS formula can handle up to 127 logical_test/value_if_true pairs, and the first logical test that evaluates to TRUE "wins":
In accordance with the above syntax, our nested IF formula can be reconstructed in this way:
=IFS(B2>150, 10%, B2>=101, 7%, B2>=51, 5%, B2>0, 3%)
Please pay attention that the IFS function returns the #N/A error if none of the specified conditions is met. To avoid this, you can add one more logical_test/value_if_true to the end of your formula that will return 0 or empty string ("") or whatever value you want if none of the previous logical tests is TRUE:
=IFS(B2>150, 10%, B2>=101, 7%, B2>=51, 5%, B2>0, 3%, TRUE, "")
As the result, our formula will return an empty string (blank cell) instead of the #N/A error if a corresponding cell in column B is empty or contains text or negative number.
Note. Like nested IF, Excel's IFS function returns a value corresponding to the first condition that evaluates to TRUE, which is why the order of logical tests in an IFS formula matters.
For more information, please see Excel IFS function instead of nested IF.
CHOOSE instead of nested IF formula in Excel
Another way to test multiple conditions within a single formula in Excel is using the CHOOSE function, which is designed to return a value from the list based on a position of that value.
Applied to our sample dataset, the formula takes the following shape:
=CHOOSE((B2>=1) + (B2>=51) + (B2>=101) + (B2>150), 3%, 5%, 7%, 10%)
In the first argument (index_num), you evaluate all the conditions and add up the results. Given that TRUE equates to 1 and FALSE to 0, this way you calculate the position of the value to return.
For example, the value in B2 is $150. For this value, the first 3 conditions are TRUE and the last one (B2 > 150) is FALSE. So, index_num equals to 3, meaning the 3rd value is returned, which is 7%.
Tip. If none of the logical tests is TRUE, index_num is equal to 0, and the formula returns the #VALUE! error. An easy fix is wrapping CHOOSE in the IFERROR function like this:
=IFERROR(CHOOSE((B2>=1) + (B2>=51) + (B2>=101) + (B2>150), 3%, 5%, 7%, 10%), "")
For more information, please see Excel CHOOSE function with formula examples.
SWITCH function as a concise form of nested IF in Excel
In situations when you are dealing with a fixed set of predefined values, not scales, the SWITCH function can be a compact alternative to complex nested IF statements:
The SWITCH function evaluates expression against a list of values and returns the result corresponding to the first found match.
In case, you'd like to calculate the commission based on the following grades, rather than sales amounts, you could use this compact version of nested IF formula in Excel:
=SWITCH(C2, "A", 10%, "B", 7%, "C", 5%, "D", 3%, "")
Or, you can make a reference table like shown in the screenshot below and use cell references instead of hardcoded values:
=SWITCH(C2, $F$2, $G$2, $F$3, $G$3, $F$4, $G$4, $F$5, $G$5, "")
Please notice that we lock all references except the first one with the $ sign to prevent them from changing when copying the formula to other cells:
Note. The SWITCH function is only available in Excel 2016 and higher.
For more information, please see SWITCH function - the compact form of nested IF statement.
Concatenating multiple IF functions in Excel
As mentioned in the previous example, the SWITCH function was introduced only in Excel 2016. To handle similar tasks in older Excel versions, you can combine two or more IF statements by using the Concatenate operator (&) or the CONCATENATE function.
For example:
=(IF(C2="a", 10%, "") & IF(C2="b", 7%, "") & IF(C2="c", 5%, "") & IF(C2="d", 3%, ""))*1
Or
=CONCATENATE(IF(C2="a", 10%, ""), IF(C2="b", 7%, ""), IF(C2="c", 5%, "") & IF(C2="d", 3%, ""))*1
As you may have noticed, we multiply the result by 1 in both formulas. It is done to convert a string returned by the Concatenate formula to a number. If your expected output is text, then the multiplication operation is not needed.
For more information, please see CONCATENATE function in Excel.
You can see that Microsoft Excel provides a handful of good alternatives to nested IF formulas, and hopefully this tutorial has given you some clues on how to leverage them in your worksheets. To have a closer look at the examples discussed in this tutorial, you are welcome to download our sample workbook below. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!
Practice workbook for download
Excel nested If statement - examples (.xlsx file)
230 comments
Thanks Svetlana. Your article above was really helpful.
i want to do below type formula in column K
column I is numeric 23.45
and i want to do is if column L will -23.45 so "SL", if column L will subtract with 2 is equal to 23.45 then "1:2" and last if column L will subtract with 3 is equal to 23.45 then "1:3"
=IF(L2=-I2,"SL",IF(L2=I2,"1:1",IF(L2/2=I2,"1:2",IF(L2/3=I2,"1:3"))))
i get only "SL" , "1:1" so
can you help to resolve?
for some reason did not show in the formula
h40
g40
I have 4 budget/accounting columns
F4 = Budget Transfers (can be +or-)
G4 = Purchase Order Amount Allowed
H4 = amount paid OR "closed"
I3 = Beginning balance (which could be zero)
=if(H4="closed",I3+F4,IF(H40,I3+F4-H4,IF(G40,I3+F4-G4,I3+F4)))
Please assist:)
Hello!
I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me.
Please describe your problem in more detail. Include an example of the source data and the result you want to get. It’ll help me understand your request better and find a solution for you. Thank you.
I have actually sorted this formula out now so no help needed. The formula I ended up with was
=IF(AND($A$4=$A$6,ISBLANK(J13),ISBLANK(K13),ISBLANK(L13)),"",IF(AND($A$4=$A$7,ISBLANK(M13),ISBLANK(N13),ISBLANK(O13)),"",IF(AND($A$4=$A$8,ISBLANK(P13),ISBLANK(Q13),ISBLANK(R13)),"",IF(AND($A$4=$A$9,ISBLANK(S13),ISBLANK(T13),ISBLANK(U13)),"",CONCATENATE(F13,G13)))))
Hi
I am trying to put a formula together and cant seem to get the nesting correct. What i am trying to do is get a concatenate value if the IF and AND are true based on another cell.
My data:
cell A1= Qtr 1
cell J10 = Jan
cell K10 = Feb
cell L10 = Mar
cell M10 = April
cell N10= May
cell L10= June
cell F10 = project name
cell G10 = project number
What I am after is a formula that will look at cell A1 and if its equal to Qtr 1, and if cells J10(Jan), K10 (Feb) and L10 (Mar) are blank, then i want it to return blank, otherwise concatenate the project name and project number. But if A1= Qtr 2, and if M10, N10 and L10 are blank then return blank,otherwise concatenate project name and project number. And so on for quarters 3 and 4. Is this possible or is there a simpler way to do this?
Appreciate your assistance.
Hello Charlie!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you
=IF(AND(A1="Qtr 1",J10="",K10="",L10=""),"", IF(AND(A1="Qtr 2",M10="",N10="",O10=""),"", IF(AND(A1="Qtr 3",P10="",Q10="",R10=""),"", IF(AND(A1="Qtr 4",S10="",T10="",U10=""),"",F10&G10 ) ) ) )
I hope this will help
Hello. I am working to find a formula in a column that will have 1 of 4 outcomes; N/A, Not Started, Active, & Expired.
Column A - # of Warranty Years
Column B - Start Date of Warranty
Column C - End Date of Warranty
Column D - Status (N/A, Not Started, Active, or Expired)
There are times when column A is 0, so that status is N/A.
There are times when column A has a value, but column B & C are empty, so that status is Not Started.
I am trying to use the TODAY() function as well so that whenever the sheet is opened it is current for expired warranties.
Thank you for your help.
Hello Denise!
I hope you have studied the recommendations in the above tutorial. Please let me know in more detail what you were trying to find, what formula you used and what problem or error occurred. In that case I will try to help you.
Here are some of the formulas I have tried, none of them work, and most only account for 3 of the 4 outcomes.
=IF(AND(A1=0,"N/A","Not Started"),IF(C1>TODAY(),"Active",IF(C1TODAY(),"Active"),IF($C10,$D1=""),"Not Started"),IF($C1>TODAY(),"Active"))
=IF(A1=0,"N/A",IF(C1>TODAY(),"Active",IF(C1<TODAY(),"Expired")))
Hello Denise!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:
=IF(A1 > 0,IF(AND(B1 <> "",C1 <> ""),IF(C1 < TODAY(),"Expired","Active"),"Not Started"),"N/A")
I hope this will help, otherwise please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.
Thank you for your help. It worked perfectly. Take care.
Hello Alexander Trifuntov
I was hoping you could help with my excel function have being having trouble with.
Am trying to archive below multiple query.
=IF(AND (A4 = "WEEK 1"(OR( D9=({"E", "EOC1", "EOC2", "L"})) & ( D10=({"E", "EOC1", "EOC2", "L"})), "WORKING", "NOT WORKING"))).
I can also shortened it by saying----
=IF(AND (A4 = "WEEK 1"(OR( D9=({"E*","L"})) & ( D10=({"E*","L"})), "WORKING", "NOT WORKING"))) using a wildcard for the E's.
so if both cells contain the range values is TRUE else FALSE.
The formula work for single cell like this
=IF(OR(D9=({"E";"L";"EOC1";"EOC2"})),"WORKING","NOT-WORKING" ) but am having trouble with 2 cells and concatenating it.
Thanks in advance
Hello Leks!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:
=IF(AND(A4="WEEK 1", OR(D9={"E","EOC1","EOC2","L"}, D10={"E","EOC1","EOC2","L"})), "WORKING","NOT WORKING")
I hope this will help, otherwise please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.
Hi Alex
That work perfectly for me. Thank you so much, i really appreciate your quick response.
Many Thanks
Hello Bharath
I was hoping you could help with my excel function have being having trouble with.
Am trying to archive below multiple query.
=IF(AND (A4 = "WEEK 1"(OR( D9=({"E", "EOC1", "EOC2", "L"})) & ( D10=({"E", "EOC1", "EOC2", "L"})), "WORKING", "NOT WORKING"))).
I can also shortened it by saying----
=IF(AND (A4 = "WEEK 1"(OR( D9=({"E*","L"})) & ( D10=({"E*","L"})), "WORKING", "NOT WORKING"))) using a wildcard for the E's.
so if both cells contain the range values is TRUE else FALSE.
The formula work for single cell like this
=IF(OR(D9=({"E";"L";"EOC1";"EOC2"})),"WORKING","NOT-WORKING" ) but am having trouble with 2 cells and concatenating it.
Thanks in advance
E4 is either blank or contains a date
I'm trying to get A4 to: 1) to be blank if E4 is blank or 2) place an X in A4 if e4=<today().
Everything I have tried fails to produce the desired results. I have tried choose functions, if and nested ifs but nothing I'm doing is working.
Thanks for any help.
Hello Ray!
If I understand your task correctly, please try the following formula:
=IF(E4=TODAY(),"x", IF(E4="","","not today"))
I hope it’ll be helpful.
I need a formula if A1 is greater the or equal to 15 December 2019 or lesser then 14 March 2020 and if A2 says listed then say Yes if not say no or if A1 is greater then or equal to 15 March 2020 then say Yes.
Hello Bharath!
If I understand your task correctly, please try the following formula:
=IF(AND(A1 > = DATE(2019,12,15),A1 < = DATE(2020,3,14),A2="listed"),"YES",IF(A1 > = DATE(2020,3,15),"YES","NO"))
I hope it’ll be helpful.
1)If= first date of period all floor commission 2%
2)If=second date of period
lower floor commission 3% ,
middle floor commission 3.5%
Higher floor commission 4%
3)If = third date of period
Lower floor commission 2%
Middle floor commission 2.5%
Higher floor commission 3%
*(Date of periods
(1) 29-09-2019 to 02-02-2020
(2) 03-02-2020 to 29-02-2020
(3) 01-03-2020 to 30-03-2021)*
Can you please help any formula to get correct commission %
Please help it's very urgent....
Please help me!!!
I want to use an IF Command, but I want it in such a way that it fetches another IF Statement from a totally different Cell...
How do I do it?
Hello Abubakar!
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:
=IF(C1,1,0)
in cell C1 write down the formula
=IF(A1>0,TRUE,FALSE)
I hope it’ll be helpful.
Hello,
I would ask for your advice in choosing the easiest procedure for determining ratings testing physical ability to take data from two different cells that are related to gender (male or female) and age group (is different for men and women, and can be easily determined on the basis of age using nested IF functions). Therefore, it is necessary to include data relating to gender and age category in the test results to obtain a score which is also categorized as laid down norms. Pre grateful!
My apologies... it sent before I finished my question.
Over Amt Short Amt Retailer ID
351.20 25862
10.00 37586
10.00 67952
351.20 25862
I would like to have the formula highlight amounts in red that are the same between Over Amt (col C) and short Amt (col D), but ONLY if the Retailer IDs (col E) are the same. As you can see here, the 351.20 amounts have the same retailer ID, but the 10.00 amounts do not. Any help you can give would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Chris
Good morning. I'm trying to figure out how to do the following:
Over Amt Short Amt Retailer ID
351.20
I NEED A ONE FORMULA FOR THIS:
I WANT TO WRITE "A" IN 2 CELLS AUTOMATICALLY IF WE BOOK AN APPOINTMENT FOR SERVICE "A"- 1 HOUR
AND TO WRITE "B" IN 2 CELLS AUTOMATICALLY IF WE BOOK AN APPOINTMENT FOR SERVICE "B" - 1 HOUR
AND TO WRITE "C" IN 4 CELLS AUTOMATICALLY IF WE BOOK AN APPOINTMENT FOR SERVICE "C" - 2 HOURS
AND TO WRITE "D" IN 3 CELLS AUTOMATICALLY IF WE BOOK AN APPOINTMENT FOR SERVICE "D" - 1.5 HOURS
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ONE CELL MEAN 30 MINS.
I have a table of information. In the D column I have multiple products with various units of measure (g, mm, ml, kg, etc) I am attempting to build a formula that searches for the specific unit of measure and populates a new column with only that unit. Eg:
Column B3 information : DEN BRAVEN ACRYLIC BEECH/ OAK 280ml
Information I want the formula to find and place into column D "ml"
I have tried building a multiple IF but I it only identifies the first range of data successfully. The moment the Formula gets to a different unit of measure then it returns a #VALUE! issue.
Column B4 Data that the formula has issues with : ALCOLIN WOODFILLER OREGAN PINE 200g
Here is a copy of the IF:
=IF(FIND("ml";B3;1);"ml";IF(FIND("g";B3;1);"g";IF(FIND("m";B3;1);"m";"no")))
Could anyone give me some pointers?
A1 value is Male or Female
B2 Value is 10000 or 5000 or 15000 or 30000
in C2 result want if male is greater than 10000 then 200 or greater than 7500 then 175 or 0
or C2 result want if Female is greater than 10000 then 200 or 0
SOS, I am totally lost here.
I have 5 colons I need to take in my formula, with a total of 4 conditions and I need to calculate the following:
IF and and Then
condition1 D1460 G14=0 P14=0 =D14*$L$10
condition3 D14+G140 G14=<60 P14=Y D14*$L$10+$M$9
- and in all other cases it should be D14+G14
How do I get them all in one field and make excel calculate the result with all those parameters? Is it possible at all?
I tried with: IF((AND(D1460, G14=0), D14*$L$10, IF(D14+G14<=59, $M$9, IF((AND(G14=<60, P14=J), D14*$L$10+$M$9, D14+G14))))
But the formula is obviously wrong :-(
Since I am a linguist and the last time I had maths was in 1983, you can understand my confusion...
Many thanks!