How to use IF function in Excel: examples for text, numbers, dates, blanks

In this article, you will learn how to build an Excel IF statement for different types of values as well as how to create multiple IF statements.

IF is one of the most popular and useful functions in Excel. Generally, you use an IF statement to test a condition and to return one value if the condition is met, and another value if the condition is not met.

In this tutorial, we are going to learn the syntax and common usages of the Excel IF function, and then take a closer look at formula examples that will hopefully prove helpful to both beginners and experienced users.

IF function in Excel

IF is one of logical functions that evaluates a certain condition and returns one value if the condition is TRUE, and another value if the condition is FALSE.

The syntax of the IF function is as follows:

IF(logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])

As you see, IF takes a total of 3 arguments, but only the first one is obligatory, the other two are optional.

Logical_test (required) - the condition to test. Can be evaluated as either TRUE or FALSE.

Value_if_true (optional) - the value to return when the logical test evaluates to TRUE, i.e. the condition is met. If omitted, the value_if_false argument must be defined.

Value_if_false (optional) - the value to return when the logical test evaluates to FALSE, i.e. the condition is not met. If omitted, the value_if_true argument must be set.

Basic IF formula in Excel

To create a simple If then statement in Excel, this is what you need to do:

  • For logical_test, write an expression that returns either TRUE or FALSE. For this, you'd normally use one of the logical operators.
  • For value_if_true, specify what to return when the logical test evaluates to TRUE.
  • For value_if_false, specify what to return when the logical test evaluates to FALSE. Though this argument is optional, we recommend always configuring it to avoid unexpected results. For the detailed explanation, please see Excel IF: things to know.

As an example, let's write a very simple IF formula that checks a value in cell A2 and returns "Good" if the value is greater than 80, "Bad" otherwise:

=IF(B2>80, "Good", "Bad")

This formula goes to C2, and then is copied down through C7: Basic IF formula in Excel.

In case you wish to return a value only when the condition is met (or not met), otherwise - nothing, then use an empty string ("") for the "undefined" argument. For example:

=IF(B2>80, "Good", "")

This formula will return "Good" if the value in A2 is greater than 80, a blank cell otherwise: IF formula to return nothing when the condition is not met.

Excel If then formula: things to know

Though the last two parameters of the IF function are optional, your formula may produce unexpected results if you don't know the underlying logic.

If value_if_true is omitted

If the 2nd argument of your Excel IF formula is omitted (i.e. there are two consecutive commas after the logical test), you'll get zero (0) when the condition is met, which makes no sense in most cases. Here is an example of such a formula:

=IF(B2>80, , "Bad")

To return a blank cell instead, supply an empty string ("") for the second parameter, like this:

=IF(B2>80, "", "Bad")

The screenshot below demonstrates the difference: The behavior of the value_if_true argument.

If value_if_false is omitted

Omitting the 3rd parameter of IF will produce the following results when the logical test evaluates to FALSE.

If there is just a closing bracket after value_if_true, the IF function will return the logical value FALSE. Quite unexpected, isn't it? Here is an example of such a formula:

=IF(B2>80, "Good")

Typing a comma after the value_if_true argument will force Excel to return 0, which doesn't make much sense either:

=IF(B2>80, "Good",)

The most reasonable approach is using a zero-length string ("") to get a blank cell when the condition is not met:

=IF(B2>80, "Good", "") The behavior of the value_if_false argument.

Tip. To return a logical value when the specified condition is met or not met, supply TRUE for value_if_true and FALSE for value_if_false. For the results to be Boolean values that other Excel functions can recognize, don't enclose TRUE and FALSE in double quotes as this will turn them into normal text values.

Using IF function in Excel - formula examples

Now that you are familiar with the IF function's syntax, let's look at some formula examples and learn how to use If then statements in real-life scenarios.

Excel IF function with numbers

To build an IF statement for numbers, use logical operators such as:

  • Equal to (=)
  • Not equal to (<>)
  • Greater than (>)
  • Greater than or equal to (>=)
  • Less than (<)
  • Less than or equal to (<=)

Above, you have already seen an example of such a formula that checks if a number is greater than a given number.

And here's a formula that checks if a cell contains a negative number:

=IF(B2<0, "Invalid", "")

For negative numbers (which are less than 0), the formula returns "Invalid"; for zeros and positive numbers - a blank cell. A formula to check if a cell contains a negative number.

Excel IF function with text

Commonly, you write an IF statement for text values using either "equal to" or "not equal to" operator.

For example, the following formula checks the Delivery Status in B2 to determine whether an action is required or not:

=IF(B2="delivered", "No", "Yes")

Translated into plain English, the formula says: return "No" if B2 is equal to "delivered", "Yes" otherwise. Using the IF function with text.

Another way to achieve the same result is to use the "not equal to" operator and swap the value_if_true and value_if_false values:

=IF(C2<>"delivered", "Yes", "No")

Notes:

  • When using text values for IF's parameters, remember to always enclose them in double quotes.
  • Like most other Excel functions, IF is case-insensitive by default. In the above example, it does not differentiate between "delivered", "Delivered", and "DELIVERED".

Case-sensitive IF statement for text values

To treat uppercase and lowercase letters as different characters, use IF in combination with the case-sensitive EXACT function.

For example, to return "No" only when B2 contains "DELIVERED" (the uppercase), you'd use this formula:

=IF(EXACT(B2,"DELIVERED"), "No", "Yes") Case-sensitive IF statement for text values.

If cell contains partial text

In situation when you want to base the condition on partial match rather than exact match, an immediate solution that comes to mind is using wildcards in the logical test. However, this simple and obvious approach won't work. Many functions accept wildcards, but regrettably IF is not one of them.

A working solution is to use IF in combination with ISNUMBER and SEARCH (case-insensitive) or FIND (case-sensitive).

For example, in case "No" action is required both for "Delivered" and "Out for delivery" items, the following formula will work a treat:

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("deliv", B2)), "No", "Yes") IF cell contains partial text.

For more information, please see:

Excel IF statement with dates

At first sight, it may seem that IF formulas for dates are akin to IF statements for numeric and text values. Regrettably, it is not so. Unlike many other functions, IF does recognize dates in logical tests and interprets them as mere text strings. In other words, you cannot supply a date in the form of "1/1/2020" or ">1/1/2020". To make the IF function recognize a date, you need to wrap it in the DATEVALUE function.

For example, here's how you can check if a given date is greater than another date:

=IF(B2>DATEVALUE("7/18/2022"), "Coming soon", "Completed")

This formula evaluates the dates in column B and returns "Coming soon" if a game is scheduled for 18-Jul-2022 or later, "Completed" for a prior date. Excel IF statement with dates.

Of course, there is nothing that would prevent you from entering the target date in a predefined cell (say E2) and referring to that cell. Just remember to lock the cell address with the $ sign to make it an absolute reference. For instance:

=IF(B2>$E$2, "Coming soon", "Completed")

To compare a date with the current date, use the TODAY() function. For example:

=IF(B2>TODAY(), "Coming soon", "Completed")

Excel IF statement for blanks and non-blanks

If you are looking to somehow mark your data based on a certain cell(s) being empty or not empty, you can either:

  • Use the IF function together with ISBLANK, or
  • Use the logical expressions ="" (equal to blank) or <>"" (not equal to blank).

The table below explains the difference between these two approaches with formula examples.

  Logical test Description Formula Example
Blank cells =""

Evaluates to TRUE if a cell is visually empty, even if it contains a zero-length string.

Otherwise, evaluates to FALSE.

 =IF(A1="", 0, 1)

Returns 0 if A1 is visually blank. Otherwise returns 1.

If A1 contains an empty string (""), the formula returns 0.
ISBLANK()

Evaluates to TRUE is a cell contains absolutely nothing - no formula, no spaces, no empty strings.

Otherwise, evaluates to FALSE.

 =IF(ISBLANK(A1), 0, 1)

Returns 0 if A1 is absolutely empty, 1 otherwise.

If A1 contains an empty string (""), the formula returns 1.
Non-blank cells <>"" Evaluates to TRUE if a cell contains some data. Otherwise, evaluates to FALSE.

Cells with zero-length strings are considered blank.

 =IF(A1<>"", 1, 0)

Returns 1 if A1 is non-blank; 0 otherwise.

If A1 contains an empty string, the formula returns 0.
ISBLANK()=FALSE Evaluates to TRUE if a cell is not empty. Otherwise, evaluates to FALSE.

Cells with zero-length strings are considered non-blank.

 =IF(ISBLANK(A1)=FALSE, 0, 1)

Works the same as the above formula, but returns 1 if A1 contains an empty string.

And now, let's see blank and non-blank IF statements in action. Suppose you have a date in column B only if a game has already been played. To label the completed games, use one of these formulas:

=IF(B2="", "", "Completed")

=IF(ISBLANK(B2), "", "Completed")

=IF($B2<>"", "Completed", "")

=IF(ISBLANK($B2)=FALSE, "Completed", "")

In case the tested cells have no zero-length strings, all the formulas will return exactly the same results: IF statement for blank and non-blank cells.

Check if two cells are the same

To create a formula that checks if two cells match, compare the cells by using the equals sign (=) in the logical test of IF. For example:

=IF(B2=C2, "Same score", "") Check if two cells contain the same values.

To check if the two cells contain same text including the letter case, make your IF formula case-sensitive with the help of the EXACT function.

For instance, to compare the passwords in A2 and B2, and returns "Match" if the two strings are exactly the same, "Do not match" otherwise, the formula is:

=IF(EXACT(A2, B2), "Match", "Don't match") Case-sensitive IF formula to check if two cells match.

IF then formula to run another formula

In all of the previous examples, an Excel IF statement returned values. But it can also perform a certain calculation or execute another formula when a specific condition is met or not met. For this, embed another function or arithmetic expression in the value_if_true and/or value_if_false arguments.

For example, if B2 is greater than 80, we'll have it multiplied by 7%, otherwise by 3%:

=IF(B2>80, B2*7%, B2*3%) IF formula that runs another formula.

Multiple IF statements in Excel

In essence, there are two ways to write multiple IF statements in Excel:

  • Nesting several IF functions one into another
  • Using the AND or OR function in the logical test

Nested IF statement

Nested IF functions let you place multiple IF statements in the same cell, i.e. test multiple conditions within one formula and return different values depending on the results of those tests.

Assume your goal is to assign different bonuses based on the score:

  • Over 90 - 10%
  • 90 to 81 - 7%
  • 80 to 70 - 5%
  • Less than 70 - 3%

To accomplish the task, you write 3 separate IF functions and nest them one into another like this:

=IF(B2>90, 10%, IF(B2>=81, 7%, IF(B2>=70, 5%, 3%))) Nested IF statement.

For more formula examples, please see:

Excel IF statement with multiple conditions

To evaluate several conditions with the AND or OR logic, embed the corresponding function in the logical test:

For example, to return "Pass" if both scores in B2 and C2 are higher than 80, the formula is:

=IF(AND(B2>80, C2>80), "Pass", "Fail")

To get "Pass" if either score is higher than 80, the formula is:

=IF(OR(B2>80, C2>80), "Pass", "Fail") Excel IF statement with multiple conditions.

For full details, please visit:

If error in Excel

Starting from Excel 2007, we have a special function, named IFERROR, to check formulas for errors. In Excel 2013 and higher, there is also the IFNA function to handle #N/A errors.

And still, there may be some circumstances when using the IF function together with ISERROR or ISNA is a better solution. Basically, IF ISERROR is the formula to use when you want to return something if error and something else if no error. The IFERROR function is unable to do that as it always returns the result of the main formula if it isn't an error.

For example, to compare each score in column B against the top 3 scores in E2:E4, and return "Yes" if a match is found, "No" otherwise, you enter this formula in C2, and then copy it down through C7:

=IF(ISERROR(MATCH(B2, $E$2:$E$4, 0)), "No", "Yes" ) If error formula in Excel.

For more information, please see IF ISERROR formula in Excel.

Hopefully, our examples have helped you get a grasp of the Excel IF basics. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!

Practice workbook

Excel IF statement - formula examples (.xlsx file)

Table of contents

4804 comments

  1. I need to use IF function on below case;

    If one item is available from a column, then Yes or else No. Please advise the fuction.

    • Hi Jay,

      Here is an example:

      =IF(A1="item you want", "yes", "no")

  2. hi,

    In my data all the values are in Indian currency in rupees. While I create pivot table summary, all the values comes with in rupees. But I needs those figure should come in Lacs.

    Thanks in advance.

  3. HI,

    I WANT TO CREATE IN EXCEL 2007 Which shows that in a selected cell (specifically Column K in spreadsheet in each cell downwards)if I will type a Value on it(numbers. 1-9) it will correspond to a word. say for example 1 means okay, 2 means not yet and etc. some sort of shortcut techniques in typing for that word. what kind of Formula should I use? Please let me know.

    Thanks Svetlana!

    • Hi JAS,

      You can use nested IF functions, like this:

      =IF(A1=1, "ok", IF(A1=2, "not yet", IF(A1=3, "smth else", "")))

      Excel 2007 allows adding up to 64 nested IF in one formula.

      • Great, thanks a lot!

  4. I created a quiz and used data validation. I want to get 1 mark for the answer of 42 otherwise 0. I used if(A4="42", 1,0).it give me 0. am I using wrong syntax

    • Hi Istkar,

      You don't need to enclose numbers in double quotes unless you want them to be treated as text strings. Once you remove "", your formula will work great:
      =IF(A4=42,1,0)

  5. can you help with the below:
    i am creating a sheet for associates in my company. 1 tab has all details of the associate that a company database should have. column 'F' has the designation of the associate and column "A" has names
    what i want to do (in another tab in the same excel). wherever column "F" has designation as manager the cell in the new tab should show me the name of that associate.
    eg: if cell value f4=manager then value in new cell (in new tab) should be name as in A4.

    i want the same to be applied to every cell.

    • Hi Ankit,

      Hopefully, this is what you are looking for:
      =IF(F4="manager", A4, "")

  6. How many times i can add IF in one formula.

    • In Excel 2013, Excel 2010 and Excel 2010, you can add up to 64 nested IF functions. In older versions of Excel, you can use a maximum of 7 IFs in one formula.

  7. Hi, Svetlana!
    I'm trying to make an Excel 2013 formula that will extract a person's last name from a cell that has their full name. Unfortunately, the fullname cell can contain any of these formats:
    First Last
    First M. Last
    F. Middle Last
    F. Middle Second_middle Last Jr.

    The formula to extract the last name form a "First Last" cell is easy (where A5 is the fullname cell):
    =RIGHT(A5,LEN(A5)-FIND(" ",A5))
    ...but I need to be able to find the last instance of a space character to lead off the RIGHT() function location. That would work for the first three examples, but not the last. Not sure what to do about that one, unless maybe an exclusion list of common suffix titles?

    I'd be most interested in your help.
    Cheers!
    Ted

  8. I have created a spreadsheet for working out the pay of our employees. The data starts in Row 14. Col A contains that week's pay date eg. 24/3/15 etc. Col B has the total hours the employee has worked that week. Column C then multiplies the hours from Col B by the employees pay rate to give me their gross pay for that week. Cols D-F contain various deductions relevant to that employee & Col G lists net pay. Following that there are 4 more rows containing the above info with the hours listed as 0 unless it is used for that week's pay, and the sixth row adds up the totals for that month & displays them as *??.??.

    In cell b3 I want a formula that tells me how many hours the employee worked in the last 4 weeks e.g..it will look down column B, find the last hours entry (ie. the last number that is greater than 0 & does not have an *), then add to this number the previous 3 weeks hours (ie. the previous 3 numbers greater than 0 & without an *). If it makes it easier I am happy to enter in the cell reference that contains the last hours entry (rather than Excel working that out) as I am not going to need this information on a regular basis.

    In cell b4 I want to do do the same thing as b3 except i want to know how many hours the employee worked in the last 52 weeks (or if they haven't actually worked 52 weeks yet, their total hours so far).

    I'm sure that this is not actually a difficult formula to write but excel is not my forte! Please let me know if you need further clarification.

  9. Thanks a lot Svetlana that worked as expected :)

    Cheers

  10. I've two columns A & B, out of this i want to check against A column name if B column is not blank then it should show complete else Partial, for more understanding see below example

    C-A C-B Output
    A ABC12 Complete
    A 105 Complete
    A 13 Complete
    B 213 Partial
    B ABC12 Partial
    B Partial

    • Hi Rajendra,

      I am afraid our blog engine has made a mess of your data :( I understand about B column being non-blank. But exactly what shall we check against A column?

  11. If somebody can please help me.
    Mentioned below is my problem
    I have a time format and I am trying to put an If formula which should give me a yes or no if its greater than or equal to a specific time

    FOR EXAMPLE:
    If (04:07:47)is greater than or equal to (04:00:00)then YES else NO

    • Hi Raymond,

      If both times are entered in some cells, then you can use a simple IF formula like this:

      =IF(A2>=B2, "yes", "no")

      Where B2 is 04:00:00.

      If you want to specify one of the values directly in the formula, then you will need the TIMEVALUE function is addition to IF:

      =IF(A2>=TIMEVALUE("4:00:00"), "yes", "no")

  12. Thank you Svetlana! To take this one step further and I tried couldn't get it to work

    =IF(A1="put",C1-B1,IF(A1="call",B1-C1,"")) then take answer of this and calculate the difference between the answer and D1 *100* E1

    • This is more in line with what I was thinking all wrapped up in one formula - =IF(A1="put",C1-B1,IF(A1="call",B1-C1,"")) --- This is the first operation

      IF cell O25 is a positive number subtract U25 or IF cell O25 is a negative number add U25 --- This is the second operation

      How would you write them separate and within on formula sequence?

      Thank you again!

      • Hi Jason,

        Please specify if these are AND or OR conditions?

        For example, if A1="put" and O25 is a positive number, then what do we do?

        If A1="put" and O25 is a negative number, then... ?

        And the same for A1="call", please.

        • What I believe I'm trying to do is calculate the positive or negative variance (on a non absolute basis)

          My apologies, so I have your formula =IF(A1="put",C1-B1,IF(A1="call",B1-C1,"")) ... in column "U"

          And in column "V" I'm trying to calculate the actual difference between cell O25 and U25(i.e. Add if a number is negative, Subtract if a number is positive)say if U25 Is positive and O25 in positive then O25-U25 or if U31 is negative and O31 is positive then U31+O31

          I was also would like to combine this formula with your =IF(A1="put",C1-B1,IF(A1="call",B1-C1,""))

          • Let me check if my understanding is correct. If values in both columns U and O are positive, then O25-U25. If a value in either column or in both columns are negative, then U325+O25. If so, I would suggest that you keep the formula in column U as is and put the following one in column V (it is actually for cell V25, but you can easily adjust the references:
            =IF(AND(U25>0, O25>0), O25-U25, U25+O25)

            Also, please note that the formula equates zero to negative numbers. If you want to treat 0 as a positive number, then change the logical test to AND(U25>=0, O25>=0)

            If I misunderstand something, please correct me.

            • Nope you made my nonsense into sense;-) So in that last formula =IF(AND(U25>0, O25>0), O25-U25, U25+O25)... how would I make any negative result display 0 and any positive result show the full value of the calculation?

  13. i need help putting this in the if function, if an employee has a taxable income of greater $739, then the federal income equals $110.85 plus the federal tax rate found in cell B19 multiply by the taxable income excess of $739. if an employee taxable income is $739 or less, the federal tax witheld equals the taxable income multiplied by the federal taxrate found in b18

  14. HOW TO MULTIPLY ONE VALUE OF A CELL BY THE PERCENT OF ANOTHER CELL

    • Hi Thello,

      For example like this:
      =A1*(A1*10%)

      If you are looking for something different, please provide a bit more details.

  15. Hi Svetlana how would you write this all in the same cell ... (If Cell A1 says “PUT” then Subtract cell B1 from C1 OR If Cell A1 says “CALL” then Subtract C1 from B1)

    • Hi Jason,

      You need a nested IF like this:
      =IF(A1="put",C1-B1,IF(A1="call",B1-C1,""))

  16. Hi,
    I'm trying to get my formula to say if I5=Y or N/A then 0 value, if not then 1 value. I'm using this: If(I5="Y""N/A",0,1) but I'm getting the value 0 no matter what's in I5. I5 is either Y, N, or N/A, and I only want it to populate when there's an "N". I thought the problem was that "N" and "N/A" both contain "N", but I typed in "fill" to test and still 0 value. Please help. Thanks!

    • Hi Felicia,

      Since you have 2 conditions, you should include the OR statement in your formula, like this:

      =IF(OR(I5="Y", I5="N/A"), 0, 1)

  17. I am trying to populate a cell with the description "Current", "30 Days" and so forth.

    I know I can use this Formula

    =IF(L2>0,, "Current")
    =IF(L2>30,, "30 Days")
    =IF(L2>60,, "60 Days")
    =IF(L2>90,, "90 Days")
    =IF(L2>120,, "120 Days")

    How do I make a full sentence (Combining all) of this so i don't have to do this individually?

  18. Hi,

    How can I restrict the cell in excel, where user have to enter the date in "MM/DD/YYYY" format only.

  19. How could we change the color of the Cell if the logical_test is true or false?
    Thank you.

  20. Hi,

    in column A user will be entering date. In column B the month will get updated automatically with =Month(A1) function.
    Now I want if the cell of A column is blank, then in column B will be showing "-" & the moment user enter the date it will return the month.

    What would be the formula in excel... pl surrgest

    • Hi!

      I believe this is what you are looking for:

      =IF(A1="", "-", MONTH(A1))

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