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. Hi,

    I am trying to write IF functions based on multiple criteria. I need a formula to demonstrate that IF cell V8 is a date that you put in, for example 20/04/20 and cell W8 is <= 16:00:00 (time), then cell Y8 can be either 20/04/20 or 21/04/20 (or whatever the next business day is) and cell Z8 can be equal to or less than 12:00:00 (time) the next business day, if true then pass, If false then fail.

    Thanks

    • Hello Philip!
      I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me. I can only help you if you accurately describe all the conditions. For example, you wrote that cell Y8 can be either 20/04/20 or 21/04/20. So what date should it be there? Z8 may be equal to or less than 12:00:00 the next business day. Is it 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.? For me to be able to help you better, please describe your task in more detail. It’ll help me understand it better and find a solution for you. Thank you.

  2. hello,
    I wanted to put a date in one cell then it will populate in other cell. for example if I put a date in A1, whatever I put in A1 should populate in A3, A5, and A7. If I put a date in A3 then it will populate in A1, A5, and A7. If I put a date in A5 then it will populate in A1, A3, and A7. If I put a date in A7 then it will populate in A1, A3, and A5. Hope you can help me with this. Thank you

    • Hello Winterstory!
      Please note that a cell may contain either a value or a formula. Since it is unknown which of your cells should be filled with data, which should be auto-populated by the formula, your task can be accomplished with the help of VBA only.

  3. good day sir, I would like to ask, if there's a formula that when I put "paid" automatically a blank cell will pop up where I can input the date. Thank you

  4. DEAR SIR,

    1. amount 15000 below amount fix 1800 amount 30 days but less days amount per day less
    2. 15000 and above amount fix 12% amount
    please share excel formula

    • Hello!
      I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me.
      For me to be able to help you better, please describe your task in more detail. It’ll help me understand it better and find a solution for you. Thank you.

  5. I select a date from cell Q33 ( 04-May-2020), and in cell R33 add some duration to it from either P34, or Q34 and or R34 (Year, month and day respectively). In this case 0 years (P34), 0 months (Q34), 200 days (R34) which gives me 16-Nov-20 in R33. The date so arrived at in R33 should not be greater than year end date i.e, 31-Mar-21. If it exceeds it should return FALSE in R33, if not it should return the correct date.
    I tried following formula, but it does not work. Please help.

    =IF(DATE(YEAR(Q33)+P34,MONTH(Q33)+Q34,DAY(Q33)+R34)>(DATE(YEAR(Q33)+(Q33>DATE(YEAR(Q33),3,31)),3,31),"FALSE",(DATE(YEAR(Q33)+P34,MONTH(Q33)+Q34,DAY(Q33)+R34))

    Thanks in anticipation.

    • Hello Mahesh!
      The formula you wrote does not work. I don’t quite understand why you have the end of the year - March 31. May 4 plus 200 days is November 20, and not November 16, as you have.
      I suggest using the formula

      =IF(DATE(YEAR(Q33)+P34, MONTH(EDATE(Q33,Q34)),DAY(Q33))+R34 > R33,Q33,DATE(YEAR(Q33)+P34,MONTH(EDATE(Q33,Q34)),DAY(Q33))+R34)

      where R33 is the end date of the year.

      • Hello Alexander!
        This is used for calculating interest on investment starting and ending in same Fin. Year (FY).
        We have FY starting 1 April and ending 31 March e.g., 1-Apr-20 to 31-Mar-21.
        Thus tenure can be max 1 year or less than 12 months or less than 365 days or in months and days.
        Starting date (Q33) is always =TODAY() and cell is locked, but end date (R33) can not be more than 31-March of FY. Thus if tenure input (P34 Y, Q34 M, R34 D) given is such that end date goes beyond 31-March cell (R33) must return "FALSE".
        First part of formula has to add tenure to start date, > (THEN) part of formula has to find FY end date using start date, and (else) part has to either give end date or if more than FY end date return FALSE.
        Tried your suggestion, but it seeks >#REF! as follows: =IF(DATE(YEAR(Q33)+P34, MONTH(EDATE(Q33,Q34)),DAY(Q33))+R34>#REF!,Q33,DATE(YEAR(Q33)+P34,MONTH(EDATE(Q33,Q34)),DAY(Q33))+R34). This is because formula is being built in cell R33 so it cannot have input >R33
        Kindly suggest.
        Thanks.

        • Hello Mahesh!
          I copied the formula from a blog in Excel and made sure that it works. Perhaps the error #REF! caused by incorrect copying. To make the formula fit your needs, use

          =IF((EDATE(Q33,Q34+P34*12)+R34) > DATE(2021,3,31),FALSE,EDATE(Q33,Q34+P34*12)+R34)

          • Hello Alexander.
            This formula works.
            But, I would request you to help make year change automatic i.e., there should be no need to change (2021,3,31) with every FY change in >DATE(2021,3,31) e.g. if date next year is 09-May-2021 it should become >DATE(2022,3,31). Please suggest replacement of Date(2021,3,31) with a formula to achieve it.
            Thanks.

  6. Good day,
    If a cell has no amount - in need to make it zero.
    I use to use this formula and now it is not working:
    =if(d4"",0,D4)

  7. Hi, I am struggling to set the formula for the following:
    Column B needs to read May if the value in column C is between May 1 and May 31, 2020.

    • Hello Candice!
      Please try the following formula:

      =VLOOKUP(MONTH(C1), {1,"January";2,"February";3,"March";4,"April";5,"May";6, "June";7,"July";8,"August";9,"September";10,"October";11, "November";12,"December"}, 2,0)

      I hope it’ll be helpful.

      • Hi,

        Similar Question with the dates. I have a source data and I want to get the dates based on cut-off.
        1. Row 1 . May 23 - June 20, 2019. Payments made was June 21 (Column C). I would like my Column D to read July.
        2. Row 2. April 23 - May 22, 2020. Payments made was April 25 (Column C). I would like my Column D to read May.
        Can I use "IFS Function" for this? Thank you in advance.

        • Hello Philip!
          I cannot recommend you which function to use - IF or IFS, since you did not say anything about the conditions under which the formula will determine the month in column D. If there is one condition, then you can use IF. But this is only an assumption. No information needed to answer.

    • Hi Candice,

      Assuming column C contains dates, you can extract month to column B with this simple formula:
      =TEXT(C1, "mmmm")

  8. Hi,

    I am trying to do an IF then formula but having trouble coming up with it. I have 4 different columns that I mark with an X dependent on which patient meets which column. However I want an additional column (if,then column) that will calculate if I have put in X in any of the 4 columns in that row and to mark it by yes if there is an X or no if there is not. Can you assist with this?? Thank you!

    • Hello!
      If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:

      =IF(COUNTIF(A1:D1,"X") > 0,"X","")

      I hope it’ll be helpful.

  9. Hi,
    I am using a formula like "=IF(D49>=35,"PASS", IF(E49>=35,"PASS", IF(F49>=35,"PASS", IF(G49>=35,"PASS", IF(H49>=35,"PASS", "FAIL")))))"
    In this any one cell 35 also its coming "PASS". Please get me some solution in this and resolve with an appropriate formula.

    • Hello MURALI!
      I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me. What result do you want to get? Could you please describe it in more detail? Thank you!

  10. Hi I am trying to create a formula that allows me to quickly match the same data that appears in 2 columns

    so if text in column A has a match with text in column b no matter what row it is displayed in, display OK can you please help?

  11. Hi, i am so terrible with code, a little help with the following would be much appreciated.

    how do i write an if statement for, If Column 'N' has text 'Not completed' then Column 'O' must be a mandatory cell to fill(text required)

  12. I need an IF statement that determines the unfilled up cell.
    ex.
    if a number of cells like 05,P5,Q5,R5,S5,T5,U5,V5,W5 which belong to step 1, step 2 and soon are blank I need to specify which step is missing.

    • Hello!
      If I understand your task correctly, please try the following formula:

      =SORT(IF($O$5:$W$5="", COLUMN($O$5:$W$5)-15,""), ,1,TRUE)

      I hope this will help, otherwise please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.

  13. my question is that,
    my formula is accurate, but i want that if in my selected cell no any data in formula cell show that " - " character,
    mostly when your selected cell not have data , your formula cell show that " #value! "
    I want that show as like " - ", with out effected the formula,
    please help me in this task.

  14. I am trying to use =IF... If the text in C48 equals a picklist (five different products) I would like cell E48 to equal the dollar value associated with the picklist name.

  15. Hi I would like to create a formula that gives out 100% if "Text1" or "Text2" but a variable percentage that I put in on my own if "Text3" or "Text4". I have at this point reached this formula which does not seem to work: = IF(OR(A3="Text1";"Text2";);100%;"")
    Excel complains and says that my conditions for OR formula needs to be a number, but my conditions are in text so I dont know what to do, so maybe another forumla similiar to OR but you can use text. Maybe some sort of If and Else formula needs to be used here but I dont know how.

  16. If you are trying to match two different spreadsheet, one spreadsheet has a number that matches the other spreadsheet but you need to enter the code number in another cell on the other sheet can you write a formula for that ?

  17. Hi- am I able to get a cell to say “1 week” if a different cell says “Extreme”?
    If so can multiple choices and responses then be made to the same cell?

  18. Hi Svetlana
    Please if I have a formula like this:G1=A1&B1&C1&D1&E1&F1 the value of the cells are in words not numbers.the formula actually gave me the my desired results but how can I give a demacation like " , " in between each words. Secondly, how can I make the results to centralized in the cell.
    Thanks.

    • Hello Enity!
      If I understand your task correctly, the following formula should work for you:

      =A1&" "&B1&" "&C1&" "&D1&" "&E1&" "&F1

      or

      =CONCATENATE(A1,"",B1,"",C1,"",D1,"",E1,"",F1)

      To center the text, use the menu Alignment - Center.
      I hope it’ll be helpful.

      • How to I extract text before the Qty ? suppose I just want to extract "bought" from 1st line
        Bought 300 CODX @ 10.3
        Sold 300 CODX @ 10.5
        Sold Short 300 TWTR @ 24.7
        Bought to Cover 300 TWTR @ 24.857

  19. I am in if assistance. This is what I am attempting to do. I need to calculate the total amount (dollars) that meet delinquency days. For example, Column A is the amount, Column B is the days late, and return the total in other cells based of a time span. "0-29" in Cell A7, "30-59" in Cell A8, and "60-89" in cell A9

    • Hello Thad!
      Please try the following formula:

      =SUMIFS(A1:A15,B1:B15,">0",B1:B15,"<30")
      =SUMIFS(A1:A15,B1:B15,">=30",B1:B15,"<=59")
      =SUMIFS(A1:A15,B1:B15,">=60",B1:B15,"<=89")
      I hope it’ll be helpful.

  20. I need a simple formula, but cannot seem to figure out the answer. I need an IF statement. If there is text in either C8 or C9 greater than 0, then ((c8+c9)/c5) then show -. So far I have =IF(C8>0,((C8+C9)/C5),"-") which works if I have text in c8, but I cannot figure out how to include c9. I may not always have text in C8 and still need the percentage to calculate if c9 has text too, Thanks

      • Hi,
        If you have four categories like some, little, none and regular and you want them to prioritise them then how could you do that using IF function or VLOOKUP function?

        • I’m sorry but your task is not entirely clear to me. For me to be able to help you better, please describe your task in more detail. Please specify what you were trying to find. Give an example of the source data and the expected result.
          It’ll help me understand it better and find a solution for you. Thank you.

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