by Many tasks you perform in Excel involve comparing data in different cells. For this, Microsoft Excel provides six logical operators, which are also called comparison operators. This tutorial aims to help you understand the insight of Excel logical operators and write the most efficient formulas for your data analysis.
Excel logical operators - overview
A logical operator is used in Excel to compare two values. Logical operators are sometimes called Boolean operators because the result of the comparison in any given case can only be either TRUE or FALSE.
Six logical operators are available in Excel. The following table explains what each of them does and illustrates the theory with formula examples.
| Condition | Operator | Formula Example | Description |
| Equal to | = | =A1=B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is equal to the values in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
| Not equal to | <> | =A1<>B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is not equal to the value in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
| Greater than | > | =A1>B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is greater than a value in cell B1; otherwise it returns FALSE. |
| Less than | < | =A1<B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is less than in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
| Greater than or equal to | >= | =A1>=B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is greater than or equal to the values in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
| Less than or equal to | <= | =A1<=B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is less than or equal to the values in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
The screenshot below demonstrates the results returned by Equal to, Not equal to, Greater than and Less than logical operators:
It may seem that the above table covers it all and there's nothing more to talk about. But in fact, each logical operator has its own specificities and knowing them can help you harness the real power of Excel formulas.
Using "Equal to" logical operator in Excel
The Equal to logical operator (=) can be used to compare all data types - numbers, dates, text values, Booleans, as well as the results returned by other Excel formulas. For example:
| =A1=B1 | Returns TRUE if the values in cells A1 and B1 are the same, FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1="oranges" | Returns TRUE if cells A1 contain the word "oranges", FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1=TRUE | Returns TRUE if cells A1 contain the Boolean value TRUE, otherwise it returns FALSE. |
| =A1=(B1/2) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is equal to the quotient of the division of B1 by 2, FALSE otherwise. |
Example 1. Using the "Equal to" operator with dates
You might be surprised to know that the Equal to logical operator cannot compare dates as easily as numbers. For example, if the cells A1 and A2 contain the date "12/1/2014", the formula =A1=A2 will return TRUE exactly as it should.
However, if you try either =A1=12/1/2014 or =A1="12/1/2014" you will get FALSE as the result. A bit unexpected, eh?
The point is that Excel stores dates as numbers beginning with 1-Jan-1900, which is stored as 1. The date 12/1/2014 is stored as 41974. In the above formulas, Microsoft Excel interprets "12/1/2014" as a usual text string, and since "12/1/2014" is not equal to 41974, it returns FALSE.
To get the correct result, you must always wrap a date in the DATEVALUE function, like this =A1=DATEVALUE("12/1/2014")
Note. The DATEVALUE function needs to be used with other logical operator as well, as demonstrated in the examples that follow.
The same approach should be applied when you use Excel's equal to operator in the logical test of the IF function. You can find more info as well as a few formula examples in this tutorial: Using Excel IF function with dates.
Example 2. Using the "Equal to" operator with text values
Using Excel's Equal to operator with text values does not require any extra twists. The only thing you should keep in mind is that the Equal to logical operator in Excel is case-insensitive, meaning that case differences are ignored when comparing text values.
For example, if cell A1 contains the word "oranges" and cell B1 contains "Oranges", the formula =A1=B1 will return TRUE.
If you want to compare text values taking in to account their case differences, you should use the EXACT function instead of the Equal to operator. The syntax of the EXACT function is as simple as:
Where text 1 and text2 are the values you want to compare. If the values are exactly the same, including case, Excel returns TRUE; otherwise, it returns FALSE. You can also use the EXACT function in IF formulas when you need a case-sensitive comparison of text values, as shown in the below screenshot:
Note. If you want to compare the length of two text values, you can use the LEN function instead, for example =LEN(A2)=LEN(B2) or =LEN(A2)>=LEN(B2).
Example 3. Comparing Boolean values and numbers
There is a widespread opinion that in Microsoft Excel the Boolean value of TRUE always equates to 1 and FALSE to 0. However, this is only partially true, and the key word here is "always" or more precisely "not always" : )
When writing an 'equal to' logical expression that compares a Boolean value and a number, you need to specifically point out for Excel that a non-numeric Boolean value should be treated as a number. You can do this by adding the double minus sign in front of a Boolean value or a cell reference, e. g. =A2=--TRUE or =A2=--B2.
The 1st minus sign, which is technically called the unary operator, coerces TRUE/FALSE to -1/0, respectively, and the second unary negates the values turning them into +1 and 0. This will probably be easier to understand looking at the following screenshot:
Note. You should add the double unary operator before a Boolean when using other logical operators such as not equal to, greater than or less than to correctly compare a numeric and Boolean values.
When using logical operators in complex formulas, you might also need to add the double unary before each logical expression that returns TRUE or FALSE as the result. Here's an example of such a formula: SUMPRODUCT and SUMIFS in Excel.
Using "Not equal to" logical operator in Excel
You use Excel's Not equal to operator (<>) when you want to make sure that a cell's value is not equal to a specified value. The use of the Not equal to operator is very similar to the use of Equal to that we discussed a moment ago.
The results returned by the Not equal to operator are analogous to the results produced by the Excel NOT function that reverses the value of its argument. The following table provides a few formula examples.
| Not equal to operator | NOT function | Description |
| =A1<>B1 | =NOT(A1=B1) | Returns TRUE if the values in cells A1 and B1 are not the same, FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1<>"oranges" | =NOT(A1="oranges") | Returns TRUE if cell A1 contains any value other than "oranges", FALSE if it contains "oranges" or "ORANGES" or "Oranges", etc. |
| =A1<>TRUE | =NOT(A1=TRUE) | Returns TRUE if cell A1 contains any value other than TRUE, FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1<>(B1/2) | =NOT(A1=B1/2) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is not equal to the quotient of the division of B1 by 2, FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1<>DATEVALUE("12/1/2014") | =NOT(A1=DATEVALUE("12/1/2014")) | Returns TRUE if A1 contains any value other than the date of 1-Dec-2014, regardless of the date format, FALSE otherwise. |
Greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, less than or equal to
You use these logical operators in Excel to check how one number compares to another. Microsoft Excel provides 4 comparison operates whose names are self-explanatory:
- Greater than (>)
- Greater than or equal to (>=)
- Less than (<)
- Less than or equal to (<=)
Most often, Excel comparison operators are used with numbers, date and time values. For example:
| =A1>20 | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is greater than 20, FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1>=(B1/2) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is greater than or equal to the quotient of the division of B1 by 2, FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1<DATEVALUE("12/1/2014") | Returns TRUE if a date in cell A1 is less than 1-Dec-2014, FALSE otherwise. |
| =A1<=SUM(B1:D1) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is less than or equal to the sum of values in cells B1:D1, FALSE otherwise. |
Using Excel comparison operators with text values
In theory, you can also use the greater than, greater than or equal to operators as well as their less than counterparts with text values. For example, if cell A1 contains "apples" and B1 contains "bananas", guess what the formula =A1>B1 will return? Congratulations to those who've staked on FALSE : )
When comparing text values, Microsoft Excel ignores their case and compares the values symbol by symbol, "a" being considered the lowest text value and "z" - the highest text value.
So, when comparing the values of "apples" (A1) and "bananas" (B1), Excel starts with their first letters "a" and "b", respectively, and since "b" is greater than "a", the formula =A1>B1 returns FALSE.
If the first letters are the same, then the 2nd letters are compared, if they happen to be identical too, then Excel gets to the 3rd, 4th letters and so on. For example, if A1 contained "apples" and B1 contained "agave", the formula =A1>B1 would return TRUE because "p" is greater than "g".
At first sight, the use of comparison operators with text values seems to have very little practical sense, but you never know what you might need in the future, so probably this knowledge will prove helpful to someone.
Common uses of logical operators in Excel
In real work, Excel logical operators are rarely used on their own. Agree, the Boolean values TRUE and FALSE they return, though very true (excuse the pun), are not very meaningful. To get more sensible results, you can use logical operators as part of Excel functions or conditional formatting rules, as demonstrated in the below examples.
1. Using logical operators in arguments of Excel functions
When it comes to logical operators, Excel is very permissive and allows using them in parameters of many functions. One of the most common uses is found in Excel IF function where the comparison operators can help to construct a logical test, and the IF formula will return an appropriate result depending on whether the test evaluates to TRUE or FALSE. For example:
=IF(A1>=B1, "OK", "Not OK")
This simple IF formula returns OK if a value in cell A1 is greater than or equal to a value in cell B1, "Not OK" otherwise.
And here's another example:
=IF(A1<>B1, SUM(A1:C1), "")
The formula compares the values in cells A1 and B1, and if A1 is not equal to B1, the sum of values in cells A1:C1 is returned, an empty string otherwise.
Excel logical operators are also widely used in special IF functions such as SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF and their plural counterparts that return a result based on a certain condition or multiple conditions.
You can find a wealth of formula examples in the following tutorials:
2. Using Excel logical operators in mathematical calculations
Of course, Excel functions are very powerful, but you don't always have to use them to achieve the desired result. For example, the results returned by the following two formulas are identical:
IF function: =IF(B2>C2, B2*10, B2*5)
Formula with logical operators: =(B2>C2)*(B2*10)+(B2<=C2)*(B2*5)
I guess the IF formula is easier to interpret, right? It tells Excel to multiply a value in cell B2 by 10 if B2 is greater than C2, otherwise the value in B1 is multiplied by 5.
Now, let's analyze what the 2nd formula with the greater than and less than or equal to logical operators does. It helps to know that in mathematical calculations Excel does equate the Boolean value TRUE to 1, and FALSE to 0. Keeping this in mind, let's see what each of the logical expressions actually returns.
If a value in cell B2 is greater than a value in C2, then the expression B2>C2 is TRUE, and consequently equal to 1. On the other hand, B2<=C2 is FALSE and equal to 0. So, given that B2>C2, our formula undergoes the following transformation:
Since any number multiplied by zero gives zero, we can cast away the second part of the formula after the plus sign. And because any number multiplied by 1 is that number, our complex formula turns into a simple =B2*10 that returns the product of multiplying B2 by 10, which is exactly what the above IF formula does : )
Obviously, if a value in cell B2 is less than in C2, then the expression B2>C2 evaluates to FALSE (0) and B2<=C2 to TRUE (1), meaning that the reverse of the described above will occur.
3. Logical operators in Excel conditional formatting
Another common use of logical operators is found in Excel Conditional Formatting that lets you quickly highlight the most important information in a spreadsheet.
For example, the following simple rules highlight selected cells or entire rows in your worksheet depending on a value in column A:
Less than (orange): =A1<5
Greater than (green): =A1>20
For the detailed-step-by-step instructions and rule examples, please see the following articles:
As you see, the use of logical operators in Excel is intuitive and easy. In the next article, we are going to learn the nuts and bolts of Excel logical functions that allow performing more than one comparison in a formula. Please stay tuned and thank you for reading!
1256 comments
Hi, I am having trouble coming up with a formula for the following. Please help.
If H1 has a value, but Q1 does not, return a value of "1", but if K1 has a value (regardless if H1 or Q1 have a value), return a value of "2".
Hi,
I am trying to calculate:
If A1 >A2 (by 10%) make A3 = 1
If A1 >A2 (by 20%) make A3 = 2
If A1 >A2 (by 30%) make A3 = 3
and so on?
Hello Burrod,
If I understand your task correctly, the following formula will do the trick:
=ROUNDUP((A1-A2) / A2*100, -1)/10
Help Please.
How do I compare a cell value in a column range?
ex. Col C1: C4 contains 5000, 5100, 5200, 5400.
Cell D1 is 5300.
Cell F1 formula : D1+40 is less than C1 or C2 or C3 or C4 say 0 else 1.
Here I want the formula to check D1+40, which is 5340, in column range C1:C4 and if it contains a number greater than 5340, Cell F1 should say 0. If all are less than 5340 then it should say 1. I tried IF and countif separately and together and didn't get a result.
Thanks,
Ravi
In one row I have set formula which calculate Sale per square foot
In the same row their are some row empty as the sales is missing for upcoming date
Now when I set formula to pick Min sale from the whole row its autmoatically calcualting zero as minimal value.
I need help to set formula in which it should not take Zero value but only take value where their is more then Zero value and give me minimal sale
Hi,
If decimal in cell more than 0.20 = 0.50;
If decimal in cell more than 0.50 = 1;
If decimal in cell less than 0.20 = 0
How to workout with excel formula for a cell to match the above 3 things in order to get the result ??
Example :
USD 134.63 = USD 134.50;
USD 238.84 = USD 239
USD 73.19 = USD 73
Hey Lance,
You can do this with the following formula (with your value in cell A1):
=IF(A1 - TRUNC(A1) >0.5, 1, IF(A1 - TRUNC(A1) > 0.2, 0.5, 0))+ TRUNC(A1)
Hope this helps!
please help me on this--
col.1| col.2| col.3
A | A | SET1
A | B | SET2
B | A | SET3
A | B | SET2
C | B | SET4
B | A | SET3
C | B | SET4
And so on...
how can i get get different sets in col.3 according to data in col.1 & col.2.
thanks
how i set formula between 0-2000=100, 2000-3000=125, 3000-4000=150, 4000-5000=175
so once i keyin 1800 it will show 100. and 2500 will show 125.
Hi,
I have a scenario related to this in my office, i just want to count all cells other than Null/spaces and "Not Contactable" through Sum product...how could i do so, Any idea??
----------------
A
Not Contactable
A
b
d
d
f
w
w
g
s
f
Not Contactable
Not Contactable
Not Contactable
Not Contactable
Not Contactable
Not Contactable
s
d
t
h
s
g
s
h
r
h
sd
f
h
d
h
d
how do i write formula for...
if c21 is more than 40, multiply what is more than 40 by 15.00
So what happen if c21 is no greater that 40?. Well, below formula leave the c21 if it's not grater than 40
=If(c21>40,c21*15.00,c21)
if greater a1 less than or equals to 2 then e2 is 0.05 if a1 is greater than 2 then e2 is 0.03
i have this excel formula involving sumif with 2 columns, the test column is comprised of one letter having 3 possible values in column, the sum column has numbers
the formula is this =SUM(K13:K2005)/(SUMIF(J13:J2005, "", H13:H2005))
j colums is the test column with the letters, h is the value colums added with the numbers
my question is what "" means in this instance
please help
thank you
Hi Cristian,
"" means an empty string. In other words, your SUMIF function says: if a cell in column J is empty, then add up a number in column H in the same row.
I need help please. I have a formula currently set up to calculate total hours, =((J18+TIME(0,30,0))-(H18-TIME(0,30,0)))*24. Now I need to set it up so that if that results in less than 3hrs for the cell to display 3 but if it is greater than 3 hrs to display the answer
I want to some data in other sheet as greater than 1100 to less than 1500
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1450
1375
1890
1225
2550
the criteria is
0% = 15, Between 0% and 3% = 9, Greater than 3% = 0
I tried the formula:
=IF(Q3=0,15,IF(AND(Q3>0,Q33,0),0)))
But it doesn't read the last argument which those that have more than 3% should be 0. It still shows 9.
please anyone immediate help me. i have some trouble in one formula is that :-
=IF(A1*0.2%-LEFT(A1*0.2%,2)>0.5,ROUNDUP(A1*0.2%,0),ROUNDDOWN(A1*0.2%,0))
this formula is correct. but i want to add one more condition is that the result value not greater than 25. i want that (this formula + not greater than 25) how to combine both them.
please please help me and if possible email me
Hi,
can you please explain how can i type greater than and less then symbol in excel formula or i have to download this symbol.
Regards
Abdul Wahab
Hi Abdul,
The 'greater than' and 'less than' symbols (also called angle brackets) are found on all computer keyboards. On U.S. keyboards, greater than (>) is usually located on the same key as the period and less than (<) on the same key as the comma.
Hi there,
I have 2000 rows of survey response data that is numerically coded : e.g. 1=Positive and 2=Negative. I want to enumerate the number of positive and negative responses. My thoughts are to use an IF equation that says IF the cell =1 assign it a one and if the cell =2 assign it a zero. Then I can enumerate the sum total number of positives and deduct from all responses to get the number of negatives at the bottom of the columns.
Could you advise what formula I could use to get my numeric responses recoded as 1 and 0 instead of 1 and 2.
Many thanks
I want a formula for:
If A1 is equal to or less than £50,000, then A2 = £60.
If A1 is equal to or less than £100,000, then A2= £120.
And so on and so forth...
£150,000=£240
£200,000=£360
£300,000=£480
£500,000=600
£700,000=720
£1,000,000=£840
£2,000,000=£1,000
£3,000,000=£3,000
£5,000,000=£5,000
<£5,000,000=£7,500
Hello,
I am trying to do a comparison between serial numbers. To simplify my case, I would like to compare two numbers and to know if 00001 is superior to 50000.
The formula is =IF(00001>50000,2018,2019)
The result that I obtain is wrong and always returns 2018. Is there a way to do compare these two numbers in excel?
Thanks for your help on this.
Kind Regards,
I am very happy to find out solve my problem from your mathematical logical part.
Thank you