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
I need help with a formula.
If A2 is equal to or less than A1 divided by 2, than A1-A2, if not than A1 divided by 2.
I have...
=IF(A2<=(A1/2),[A1-A2],[A1/2])
But excel returns an error "The name you have entered is not valid".
reasons include
-the name does not begin with letter or underscore
-the name contains a space or other invalid characters
-the name conflicts with an excel built-in name or another object in the workbook
The first instances of A2 and A1 in the logicial test "A2<=(A1/2)" have the cell values colored and correspond to those cells as normal, however the other instances of those cells in the value if true "[A1-A2]" and value if false "[A1/2]" sections do NOT have the cell values colored and do not correspond to those cells at all.
I Want it to subtract A2 from A1 as long as A2's value is 50% or less of A1's value, if not it should divide A1 by 2 instead. Basically i want it to subtract no more than half.
Would really appreciate any help on correcting my formula and/or the error.
Hi Bryan,
Remove the square brackets from your formula and it will work just fine :)
=IF(A2<=A1/2, A1-A2, A1/2)
Dear admin.
Maybe this question is out from topic. Is it possible to make an input and it will come out with other output at different cell.
For example, I choose input at A1, and other output will generate based on what we set.
Eg : A1 = Input(6 x 7) ; auto generate output: B1 = 6 & C1 = 7
Correct answer would be appreciated.
Thanks
I have 10 numbers(positive/Negative) in cells A1 to J1.
I want to determine whether this numbers from A1 to J1 are having growth/fall.
For e.g.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 are having growth.
Similarly,
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 are having fall.
Both the cases are acceptable.("YES")
But,
4,5,6,7,5,4 are not having continuous growth.("NO")
I need a formula for this.
What i have managed to do so far.
=IF(OR(AND(D5>E5,E5>F5,F5>G5,G5>H5,H5>I5,I5>J5,J5>K5,K5>L5,L5>M5,M5>N5),AND(D5<E5,E5<F5,F5<G5,G5<H5,H5<I5,I5<J5,J5<K5,K5<L5,L5<M5,M5<N5)),"YES","NO")
But this doesn't work if any of the cells are blank.
I want to the if function to test value in too different cells, and display which is higher and if equal should display any of the value
Correct answer would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Zack,
You can use the MAX function, for example =MAX(A1:C1) or =MAX(A1, C1, E1)
Hi,
I have two cells like below.
Category Wages
O/L TAILOR -I 280
F/L TAILOR -I 305
HELPER 175
CUTTING HELPER 220
i need a automatic for wages cell , (e.g If i entered O/L TAILOR IN CATEGORY CELL AND WAGES SHOULD BE CHANGE AUTOMATIC VALUE OF 280)Some one help me out
Hi
I've list of numbers in a column, I want to find out the numbers which are equal to, 10 grades larger or 10 grades lesser than a number in the column.
Thank you
Hi,
my quires
(>=15% -25points)(>12%0%15%,"25",IF(K2=15%,"25",IF(K2>12%,"15",IF(K20%,"5",IF(K2<12%,"5"))))))
first two logic will come but last logic not yet come.
Regards
SP
Hi,
my quires
>=15% -25points
>12%0%15%,"25",IF(K2=15%,"25",IF(K2>12%,"15",IF(K20%,"5",IF(K2<12%,"5"))))))
first two logic will come but last logic not put 5 points
Reagrds
SP
Hi Svetlana,
I am struggling with the following challange.
I would like to deduct in 00:30 hrs if the time difference between 2 cells is more than 6 hours.
I have A1 12:00, B1 18:30, C1 = difference A1 and B1, BUT if the difference = more than 6 hrs I want C1 to deduct 00:30
Thank you very much for your help.
Regards, Bram
Hi Bram,
Try the following formula:
=IF(B1-A1>TIME(6,0,0), B1-TIME(0,30,0), B1-A1)
Hi Svetlana, Thank you for your prompt reply.
I am very happy! It put me on the right track.
I solved it by first placing the difference in cell C1 and then placing the formula =IF(C1>TIME(6;0;0); C1-TIME(0;30;0); C1) in cell D1
Very best regards,
Bram
Need to insert today date on B1 if A1 contains a specific value or characters
need formula, pls help
Hi Lokesh,
You can use a formula similar to this:
=IF(A1="text", TODAY(), "")
Remember to apply the Date format to B1.
I'm trying to create a cell I want it to read 25% of earned income. However, if expenses exceed the 25% of earned income, I want the cell to read 0. Can I do this?
Never mind. I did it! I think.
=IF(F4<(B4*0.25),B4*0.25,0)
Hi Svetlana,
If A1 amount has a range and the results in A2 with different types.
0-50000 = Type A
50000-200000 = Type B
200000-700000 = Type C
Hi Svetlana,
What if I wanted the output cell to be equal to 1 only if the copied cell is greater than 500, and 0 only if the copied cell is less than 500?
i.e. X=1 IF X > 500, 0 IF X < 500
Thank you for your assistance :)
Hi Clyde,
You can use a formula similar to this:
=IF(A1>500, 1, 0)
Ah perfect, thank you very much...way more simpler than I expected it to be :)
if any value like 19 or less then it then it should be count 19 or same but if it is above 20 then it should count 20.i want formula for this query?
Hi Chirag,
You can use a formula similar to this:
=IF(A1<=19, 19, 20)
I have a spreadsheet that I like to skip the column that have a grand Total of "0"
So if Column G5 grand total is zero, skip G5 and look for G6
if G6 is zero look for G7.
If G7 value is 1 then insert the value A1
Basically I like to keep only the values 1 and above in the spreadsheet
Thank you
Hi Jaison,
And what do we do if G7 is 0 or >1?
Thanks for the reply
Once the value is >1 on the pivot, we will use that value.
Jaison,
If my understanding of the task is correct you can use the following formula:
=IF(G5>0, G5, IF(G6>0, G6, IF(G7>0, G7, A1)))
Hi there:
I am trying to write a formula that says
"If (reference to a cell on another sheet) is >=15, then enter 15000 in the cell if not, then enter 0."
This is the formula I have entered that does not seem to be working..
=IF('Visits Schools'!C38:C40>="15",15000,0)
What's wrong with the formula?
Kacey,
Double quotes are not needed for numbers and each cell should be referenced individually, for example:
=IF('Visits Schools'!C38>=15, 15000, 0)
or
=IF(AND('Visits Schools'!C38>=15,'Visits Schools'!C39>=15, 'Visits Schools'!C39>=15), 15000, 0)
I have a spreadsheet that I like to skip the column that have a grand Total of "0"
So if Column G5 grand total is zero, skip G5 and look for G6
if G6 is zero look for G7.
If G7 value is 1 then insert the value A1
Basically I like to keep only the values 1 and above in the spreadsheet
Thank you
Any help would be much appreciated
How do I write a formula for, If G2>H2, return 0, if h2<G2, subtract h2-g2, for answer.
Help!!
Hi Wanda,
Here you go: =IF(G2>H2, 0, H2-G2)
Hello!
I have a spreadsheet which takes a ton of input from various user created lists. One of my cells is a simplified display, but properly doing the code is turning out to be difficult.
Currently I have:
=IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(Facility,Each1)),"↑BCR",IF(AND(ISNUMBER(FIND(Facility,Each2)),NOT(ISNUMBER(FIND(Facility,Each1)))),"↓BCR",""))&IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(Facility,Each3))," ↑BM",IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(Facility,Each4))," ↓BM",IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(Facility,Each5))," ↓BMx2",IF(ISNUMBER(FIND(Facility,Each6))," ↓BMx4",""))))
Basically, I have two things I'm measuring: BCR and BM.
I have a list of facilities.
I have 6 lists, "Each#".
Each1 = ↑BCR × integer
Each2 = ↓BCR × integer, if not on Each1
Each3 = ↑BM × integer
Each4 = ↓BM × integer
Each5 = ↓BM × 2 × integer
Each6 = ↓BM × 4 × integer
The formula recognizes that if a facility is not on Each3, Each4, Each5, or Each6 that the value " " is reported back. I would like for it to do similar with Each1 and Each2. Specifically, if a facility is on both Each1 and Each2, I'd like it to return " ".
In general, the Each2 function I created seems to be broken.
Help please?
I'm still holding out that you'll help me! I really cannot figure this one out on me own.
I have one query:
I need to have a formula which can determine if it passed or failed according to its type, sample:
A: Normal/Abnormal
B:date and time request was received
C:date and time request was approved
D:C-B = total hours of the time when it was approved
E:PASS / FAIL
FAIL: if request is normal and its approval time exceeds 72 hours
PASS: if request is normal and its approval time is within 72 hours
FAIL: if request is abnormal and its approval time is more than 24 hours
PASS: if request if abnormal and its approval time is within 24 hours
Hi,
i am facing difficulties in allocating Grades to the students, please help me to write a formula in the M.S.Excel work sheet. Here is an example:
Grading standard:
below or equal to 39 is fail,
40 to 49= D
50 to 59=C
60 to 69=B
70 to 79=A
80 to 89=A+
90 and above=A++
Students Name %obtained Grade
Ajma 85
Saeed 63
Shahzad 55
Latif 90
Rashid 74
Akhtar 80
Aslam 49
Ahmad 68