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. hello,ma'am I have Excel sheet of Indian population and I have to classified accordingly by Tier -1 to Tier -4 so how can I put condition in this sheet.
    Tier-1 =10000000 population
    so on till tier -4
    Thank you.

  2. Give me a formula for making a result sheet in which i want the result
    there is four NOS(Subject)
    if student's marks in all NOS is 0 Then Absent.
    if student's marks >=70 in all NOS Then Pass.
    if student Passs a NOS and fail in rest of the three NOS Then NOS PASS.
    if student's marks in all NOS is <70 Then Fail

  3. Hi, i cannot seem to get this formula down.

    Use an IF function in cell J18 to calculate the commission earned for beverages for order 1. The beverage commission is 10% of the total sale if the customer buys a beverage. If the beverage sale amount (cell D18) is greater than 0 the beverage commission equals the sales total (cell G18) multiplied by the beverage commission rate (cell G12). Otherwise the beverage commission is 0. Use appropriate relative and absolute cell references.

  4. I am trying to create a formula that if text = (specific text) then add 1, and the total number of (specific text) fields there are in that column.

    I have a specific ticket type for an event in column F in this spreadsheet, and I am trying to create a formula at the bottom that will tell how many of each ticket type there is.

    • Hello Jeanette!
      To count the number of cells with a "specific text" you can use the COUNTIF function. For example:
      =COUNTIF(B1:B8,"specific text")

  5. Hi Guys,

    Please help on the following:-
    Gross profit margin>=20% = 0.7%
    Gross profit margin>=25% = 1%
    Gross profit margin>=30% = 1.5%
    Gross profit margin>=35% = 2.0%
    Gross profit margin>=40% = 2.5%

    • Hello Theng!
      You can enter the following formula: =IF(F1>=40,2.5,IF(F1>=35, 2, IF(F1>=30, 1.5, IF(F1>=25, 1, IF(F1>= 20, 0.7, 0)))))

      F1 contains Gross profit margin.

  6. I have a spread sheet that as A as the Roster, B as the Go or No Go, C as a number value between 1-40, and D as 4 classifications.

    1-23=Unqual (NOGO)
    24-29=Mark(GO)
    30-35=SS (GO)
    36-37=Ex(GO)

    I want to make a formula that when i type in the number value in C, it will automatically fill in B and D with the info i need based on the table above all the way down the rows.

  7. Hello, thanks for your time.

    I'm building a spreadsheet in which I have a list of names, and need these names to represent a value. For instance, if cell AL5 states "COL", "TOR", or "BAL", it should be assigned a value of two, but if cell AL5 states "TEX", "BOS", "NYY", or "ARI", it should be assigned a value of 1. Please help put together a formula to do this; I've got the first part at =(IF((OR(AL5="TOR", AL5="BAL", AL5="COL")), "2"))

  8. I have a spreadsheet in which I the if has 2 requirements to be correct, and if so then it will be this number, but if its below it needs to equal zero, and if it is above it equals a fixed number. How do I get it to have 2 options if false?

    =IF(AND(F1>29999,F1<70001),(F1-30000)*0.02,40000*0.02)

    the 40000*0.02 is if its greater than 70001 but if it is less than 29999 then it needs to be 0

    any help?

  9. Hey All

    I would appreciate any guidance on the following formula please:
    If column A =1 and column B = 2 return X otherwise return Y.

    Many thanks
    Alice

    • =If(A1=1,If(B1=2,"X","y"),"y")

  10. Hello everybody!
    That seems so simple but I can't do it :(

    I would like to know the formula for this:

    If any text is found in cells T23 U23 V23 or Z23 this same text should be copied to this cell where the formula goes (C23).

    This text could be any of these four: Apple/Pears/Peaches/Grapes

    Thank you so much

    • Hi Augusta,

      What if 2 or more cells (T23, U23, V23, Z23) contain different texts? Which one should be copied to cell C23?

  11. Hi Guys
    I have this project wherein I want to check the ROWS and look for Installed or Blank and will input C or Complete on Column A, If it sees 1 just do nothing

    A B C D
    1 Installed Installed
    2 1 1 1
    3 Installed

  12. Hi sanjay...
    In this way, using the formula...
    =VLOOKUP(C55,Sheet1!A:E,5,FALSE)

  13. =IF(O14>"80""A",O14>"60""B",O14>"40""C")

  14. I want to know how to check whether a value is repeated in a column.
    e.g:
    123
    231
    132
    123.
    for a column that is as large as A3:A500.

    Thanks

  15. I want to find out that if someone given a date and time, I should get a response block or empty. For the same I applied If and Datevalue formula but it is working only when I mentioned the excel column address, not on the range. Can you please: IF(AND(W4:W300=DATEVALUE("07/16/2016"),X4:X300=1),"BOOK","EMPTY")

    Please suggest...

  16. in if condition calculate the "n" number of times

  17. For a Hotel Maintenance Log. I have a column for recording room numbers and want to apply a condition to a certain room number, so that front desk staff know what to do differently for this one apartment. I tried:

    =IF(A2=1307, "call owner")

    but no luck. Grateful for any ideas - thanks

    • No worries - I have solved it:

      =IF(A2=1307,"CALL OWNER","")

      This leaves the cell blank if it's not for 1307, so works perfectly.

  18. Hi

    I have a nested IF AND formula that looks at times [HH]:MM It works fine until I have time over 24hours. I have this section in my formula:

    IF(AND(N2>=TIME(24,0,1),N2<=TIME(48,00,00)),"Between 24-48hrs")

    It doesn't work though...any ideas??

    • Not to worry..I have solved it by converting time to decimals and working the > or < off those figures rather than time!

  19. Criteria Cell1 and Cell2 having numbers which may be higher,lower or same.
    What will be the formula to get in Cell3 as reply "Higher", "Lower" or "Same" any 1 will be answer.

    • =IF(AND(A1=A2),"SAME", IF(A1<A2,"LOWER","HIGHER"))

  20. I have a score range to grade students A,(85-100) B, (75-84) C, (65-74) D, (50-64) & E (0-49).

    How would I enter the values using the IF function so that when I drag down using the handle it automatically give grading. Please help.
    Thanks.

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