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

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. Continue reading →

Comments page 93. Total comments: 4833

  1. Good Afternoon,

    I am trying to sort out how much paid and voluntary work I do for a charity, what I need to know how many hours I have done paid.

    So if it says paid in one cell I need it to add the hours to another cell. Is this doable?

    Thank You

    1. Hello Cody,

      You can use a SUMIF formula similar to this:

      =SUMIF(B:B, "paid", A:A )

      Where column C contains hours, and column B - work descriptions like "paid".

  2. Hi,

    I'm trying to figure out a formula, where if A is blank than leave destination cell blank, if A contains a date then destination cell to show the month from that date.
    I came up with the following, which pulls the months through, but doesn't leave the cell blank if A does't have a date.

    =IF(ISBLANK(A),"",MONTH(A:A))

    would really appreciate your help.
    thanks,
    Suzie

    1. Hi Suzie,

      Because the IF function works on a cell level, you should specify a cell reference in a formula. For example, enter the following formula in row 1, and then coy it down to other cells in the column:

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

  3. a
    r1 12,00
    r2 34,00
    r3 78,00

    if the latter is my workbook is it correct to type:
    =IF(30>A1>10;1;IF(70>A1>30;2;IF(A1>70;3))),
    in order to receive the number 1 for the specific condition described or the numbers 2 or for the other conditions described accordingly?
    I think the formula is right but excel unfortunatelly gives results of 1 only (cannot calculate 2 or 3).
    to specify, this is the worksheet after the formulas copied to the b column:

    a b
    r1 12,00 1 ok formula is:=IF(30>A1>10;1;IF(70>A1>30;2;IF(A1>70;3)))
    r2 34,00 1 ??? formula is:=IF(30>A2>10;1;IF(70>A2>30;2;IF(A2>70;3)))
    r3 78,00 1 ??? formula is:=IF(30>A3>10;1;IF(70>A3>30;2;IF(A3>70;3)))

  4. I am looking for a formula that allows me to see if I have one 1, one 2, one 3, one P, one SS, one LF, one, RF, one CF, and three X each column. If I have two of one of the numbers or zero of one of the numbers then I want it to be false. If I have it meets my criteria then I want it to be true. I hope that makes sense.

  5. Thank you very much.
    I have had to use this formula to create an extra column to do what I could not with a formula. Is it possible to get a total to count the two columns on one row and just add in to total rather than having to use the above formula in a column of its own. E.G the total will need to represent any time that there is date in both Column A and column B but does not need to show any data when there is data in only one of the columns. I would also like this represented by a number rather than a word.

    Is that possible ?

    1. Sean,

      If my understanding is correct, you want to count the total of rows that have any value both in column A and B. If so, you can use the following COUNTIFS function:
      =COUNTIFS(A:A, "<>"&"", B:B, "<>"&"")

      If you are looking for something different, please clarify.

  6. Hi Svetlana and team,

    I would like to use a COUNTIF function or any other function to do this. If A5 and F5 contain values then K5 = Yes or 1 eg.
    Is this possible within excel ?

    Thanks

    Sean

    1. Hi Sean,

      Sure, here's the formula for K5:

      =IF(AND(A5<>"", F5<>""), "Yes", "")

  7. Hi there,
    i would ask for help for the following:-

    cell c36= if L15 until L32 is SR, than total up k15 until k32 that contain SR in L15 until L32.

    cell c37= if L15 until L32 is ZR, than total up k15 until k32 that contain ZR in L15 until L32.

    what i want is, if there is SR in the L row, than total up.
    if there is ZR in the L row, than total up too , but i want 2 different value. Please help

  8. IF(E3:E281=71,5375,IF(E3:E281=12,6105,IF(E3:E281=13,6555,)))
    how can i write IF(E3:E281=7(i),5375,IF(E3:E281=1(ii),6105,IF(E3:E281=1(iii),6555,)))

  9. "In cell G2, create a formula using the IF function and structured references to create a calculated column that determines the value of Weeks Vacation based on the following criteria:
    a. If the years employed are less than 3, the Weeks Vacation should be 2
    b. If the years employed are 3 or more, the Weeks Vacation should be 3
    If the formula in cell G2 does not fill the table column, fill the remaining cells with the formula you just created."

    How would i do this formula?
    help please?!?!?

  10. Hi,

    I want my formula for Ks to return value as blank or "". My formula orginally is:
    =INDEX($D$5:$D$8,SUMPRODUCT(--($E$5=B5:B8),ROW($A$1:$A$4)))

    The formula above works fine as it returns a value when i put value of any number in the column E5. However, I want my formula to return blank when a non-value, ie: a text or value with percentage such as '10%.

    I tried this:
    =IF(AND((INDEX($O$21:$O$24,SUMPRODUCT(--(G36=$M$21:$M$24),ROW($A$1:$A$4))))),"---")

    but it returns "----" regardless when the criteria is met.

    Below is example of excel, copy paste in a blank sheet.

    FOR SOIL
    Coefficient for shaft resistance, Ks
    SPT N example
    IN TEXT Range 1 Range 2 Ks SPT (IN VALUE) OR RQD (%-TEXT)
    N<10 0 10 3.5 3
    11<N<50 11 50 3 10%
    51<N<100 51 100 2.5
    101<N<150 101 150 2

    Result to get:
    FOR SPT 3 GET Ks 3.5 (ok- formula 1 works fine)
    FOR RQD 10% GET Ks #VALUE! (not ok- formula 2 -because when we
    insert a non-number it should return blank cell.

    Thanks in advance,
    Aya2016

  11. Column A1=Mango,A2=Tomato,A3=Chicken I want in column B1 mango=fruit,B2 Tomato=vegitable and B3 Chicken=meat.How to make function.Pls help

    1. Hello Manu!
      You can use the following formula:
      =IF(OR(A2="Mango",A2="Apple"),"fruit",IF(OR(A2="Tomato",A2="Potatoes"), "vegitable",IF(OR(A2="Chicken",A2="Beef"),"meat","")))

  12. I have a list of data in a column, it might be data or empty cell. I wanted to gather that data in a single line separated with commas and & sign before the last data. Basically i am getting this data from user choice.
    Thanks for helping.

    1. I have tried using Concatenate but i am getting something like; (1 inverter, 2 battery,,,,, 2 bulb,,, and so on). I don't want these useless commas and want a "&" sign.

  13. HI

    How can i form this formula...

    I want to compute the BMI of children with regards to their (Age, Gender, Weight, Height)? thanks

    1. what function should i use?

      B1=Gender C1=Age D1=Weight E1=Height F1=BMI G1=COMMENT (underweight,normal, overweight)

      IF(B2=F/FEMALE, F2>14, "underweight", F224"Overweight"), IF(B2=M/MALE, F2>15, "underweight", F2<=25, "normal", F2<25, "overweight")

      please how will i correct this?

      thank you

  14. A1 is 7300
    B2 is 7850

    in C2 row = if a1 is less than b2= 0 and if not than a1-b2

    request suggest the formula on my email

  15. Hello,

    You can use the following nested IF formula that lists all conditions:
    =IF(F1>0,F1&G1,IF(E1>0,E1&G1,IF(D1>0,D1&G1,IF(C1>0,C1&G1,IF(B1>0,B1&G1,IF(A1>0,A1&G1,""))))))

    1. Anderi,

      It worked but it's showing the results in one columns. Can you tell me how to show the results in two separate columns?

      Thank you!

    2. Thank you so much for your help Andrei Bertosh! It worked!!!

  16. Anyone willing to accept this challenge and help me?

    I have data in 7 columns, 5000 plus rows. First 6 columns have numbers they refer to the value in column 7th which is text. Example

    10 0 0 0 0 0 H
    10 101 0 0 0 0 S
    10 101 10105 0 0 0 T
    10 101 10105 10 0 0 W
    10 101 10105 20 0 0 F

    I want to see the result in the new sheet like this.
    10 H
    101 S
    10105 T
    10 W
    20 F
    Column 5th and 6th value is "0" so the result should be "no value"

    Thank you for your help in advance.

  17. Can someone please help with,If A1>=10; Efficient, If A1=5; Average, If A1=3; Poor, If A1<3 ;"" (blank).

    Thank you.

    1. Hello,

      You can use the following nested IF formula that lists all conditions:
      =IF(A1>=10,"Efficient",IF(A1=5,"Average",IF(A1=3, "Poor","")))

      I hope this helps.

      1. Thanks! For me work grate.

  18. Hello, Can anyone help me with the following. I have data in 7 columns, 5000 plus rows. First 6 columns have numbers they refer to the value in column 7th which is text. Example

    10 0 0 0 0 0 H
    10 101 0 0 0 0 S
    10 101 10105 0 0 0 T
    10 101 10105 10 0 0 W
    10 101 10105 20 0 0 F

    I want to see the result in the new sheet like this.
    10 H
    101 S
    10105 T
    10 W
    20 F
    Column 5th and 6th value is "0" so the result should be "no value"

    Thank you for your help in advance.

  19. Hello, I would greatly appreciate some help. I would like to create a command which will do the following: when I insert a specific text on a cell this will equal to a specific number. For example , when I insert "TT" this will equal to 0.2. Or when I write HD this will equal to 0.1. This will then be summed up on another cell. I would like to see only the letters but not the numbers. Is that possible?
    Thanks in advance for any help offered.

    1. Hello Christos,

      If you can have just either of the values, you can use the following formula:
      =IF(A2="TT",0.2,0.1)

      Here A2 is the cell where you enter the necessary text.

  20. Hi. I need a formula where if C9 is YES then it gives a score of 5, If C9 is NO then its gives a score of ZERO. Help please, its sending me round the bend

  21. =IF(B2>0,C2=0,"sliding","rotary") i want help if it b2 greater than zero, and c2 equal zero, i need it sliding, but if not i need it rotary and this formula has something wrong

    1. Hello Ahmed,

      In order to meet both conditions, you need to add AND to your formula:
      =IF(AND(B2>0,C2=0),"sliding","rotary")

      I hope this helps.

  22. Hello,

    I have 1 list of 4000 emails and other list of 700 emails. How can I sort or check or highlight or check if that 700 is available or not in 4000 emails ?

    Many thanks.

    Best,
    Ravi

  23. Hello everybody can someone help me, i need to link two tables together with a condition .
    For example I have To tables tasks For week1 and tasks for week 2. And i want to make if the task didnt accomplished in week 1 it should be transformed automatically to week2.

  24. Time WOB: tons Top Drive RPM: Result of value of time
    when WOB>0 and Top drive
    RPM=0 like 9 minutes in

    a result column
    1:34:00 AM 0 44
    1:34:30 AM 0 44
    1:35:00 AM 0 43
    1:35:30 AM 0 44
    1:36:00 AM 0 43
    1:36:30 AM 0 44
    1:37:00 AM 0 42
    1:37:30 AM 0 43

    these exactly are recorded time based data which is recorded every 30 seconds, so i need to get the exact sum value of the first time column like 02:12:15 in a separate column when wob>0 and Top drive rpm=0 this is the same question above

  25. Hi everybody, could you help me please..i have two issues
    first one: if i have a time column like each cell have a time value like 12:51:00 and the other cell down in same column 12:52:00 and so on all the column... i need to make a function which let me get the sum of the time column as a value like from 12:51:00 to 12:59 and i need the result equal 9 minutes.
    second issue: if have i need to make a result if B2>0 and C2=0 i need D2= the value of A2.. thanks alot

    1. Hello Ahmed!
      1. Time in Excel is a fractional part of 24-hour period, i.e. 24 hours is regarded as 1. You need to deduct the first time from the last one to find the time interval. To display this interval in minutes, you need to multiply the result by 24 and 60 as there are 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour.
      =(F10-F1)*24*60
      Cell format is Number.
      2. You can use the following formula:
      =IF(AND(B2>0,C2=0),D2,"")

  26. suppose the quantity in "A1"cell =1000
    I want to type quantity in "B1"cell with following conditions -
    if quantity of "B1"is lesser than "A1",take the quantity as it is.
    if quantity of "B1"is more than "A1",take the quantity as "A1".
    if quantity of "B1"is same as "A1",take the quantity as it is.

    Pl send me the formula for above.
    Regards,
    Umesh M

    1. Hello Umesh,

      If you want to use the value in cell B1 as a condition in the formula, you need to enter the formula in a different cell:
      =IF(B1<A1,B1,IF(B1>A1,A1,B1))

      I hope this helps.

  27. Hi

    As I understand you would recommend using nested IF Function (for example : =IF(Con1,IF(Con2, "A","B"),"B") )instead of AND with if (=IF(AND(Con1,Con2),"A","B"))?

    Is that right?

    Many thanks.

    1. Hello Arash,

      Thank you for your question.

      The choice depends on your task. When you use nested IF, you are saying that the cell can comply with one of the conditions and return the respective result. For example, your first formula would look something like this: =IF(Con1,"A",IF(Con2, "B","C"))
      Excel would read it the following way: if condition 1 is true, then we should see "A", if condition 2 is true, then we should see "B", otherwise we should show "C".

      When you use AND with IF, you'd want both conditions to be met. So when you type =IF(AND(Con1,Con2),"A","B") you say that if Condition 1 and Condition 2 are true at the same time, you will see "A", if not then you will see "B".

      I hope this clarifies the way it works for you.

  28. I want to know if i add three cells value and result is 100. This 100 how its came in words in excel putting formula or others way to get?

  29. I need a formula that looks at multiple cells in a column and decides if the date shown in each cell falls between February 21, 2016 and February 27, 2016. If it does then it adds it to a running quantity in the cell where the formula exists.

    Thank you very much

    1. Hello Ty!
      You can use the following formula:
      =COUNTIFS(D1:D25,">"&DATE(2016,2,21),D1:D25,"<"&DATE(2016,2,27)) Where D1:D25 are the cells with dates.

  30. Hi, I would like to have equation for: If a2>=5; Efficient, If a2=3; Average, If a2=2; Poor, If a2<2 ;"" (blank).

    Thank you.

    1. Hi Mitesh,

      You can use several conditions in the formula:
      =IF(A2>=5,"Efficient",IF(A2=3,"Average",IF(A2=2, "Poor","")))

  31. Hi, I want formula of in lst column if date is 15.03.2015 in 2nd column March-2015 if date is 16.03.2015 in 2nd column April-2015. Please help formula.

    1. Hi, I want formula of in lst column if date is 15.03.2015 in 2nd column March-2015 if date is 16.03.2015 in 2nd column April-2015. Please help formula.

  32. I have a spreadsheet for stock market transaction. I need to do the following check. If it is a BUY(LONG) transaction, return profit as exit cost-entry cost. If it is a SELL(SHORT) transaction, function should return profit as entry cost-exit cost. My columns are D - BUY or SELL depending on type of transaction. G- Entry cost and K - Exit cost. I made the following formula .

    If(D2=BUY, K2-G2, G2-K2). It is returning a #Name? error. How to make this formula.

    Thanks for the help.

    1. Hello Aravind,

      Please make sure you include the text in quotes, e.g.
      =IF(D2="BUY",K2-G2, G2-K2)

  33. just an addition: It need to be able to find it in every row since I have a lot of rows.

  34. Hi guys,
    I have coloums of prices form different shops. I need to identify which row has the cheapest (minimum) price and have the outcome of the coloumn name (shop name). I can of course use =min to find the lowest, but how can I get the output of the shop name for each minimum?
    Thanks!

    1. Hello Anders!
      You can use the formula: =INDEX(A1:A4,MATCH(MIN(B1:B4),B1:B4,0))
      Where A1:A4 are the shop names, and B1:B4 are the cells that contain prices.

  35. Hi,

    How to fix selected sentences in at one location in excel ??

    Example,
    I have 2 different location name one of INDIA & second is USA. How can I make formula for no one can type any other location name accept only INDIA & USA.

    Thanks.

    Laxman Purohit

    1. Hello Laxman,
      You can use Data Validation in Excel. First you need to create a reference list with your location names, you can do it on any other sheet. Then select the cell where you want to get just one of these values, go to Data tab in Excel and select Data Validation. Choose to allow "List" and refer to your location names in the "Source" field. You can unselect "Ignore blank" if the cell has to have a value, and enter error alert on the respective tab.

      1. Thank you so much Irina... !!!

  36. I have a list of user log ins on PCs. The same PC could be used by any number of users. So, just making a list of PCs that need to be updated and having 14000 lines of PCs, is there a way to parse the list to just include a PC name just once.
    Ex:
    A2=PC1 To Show PC1
    A3=PC1 PC2
    A4=PC1 PC3
    A5=PC2
    A6=PC3
    A7=PC3

    1. Hello Cal,

      If you need to keep the original list, you can run our Duplicate Remover add-in, choose to look for uniques and copy them to a new worksheet.
      Otherwise you can choose to remove duplicates from your original list to get a list of unique PC names.

      1. Thanks Irina! I wasn't aware of that function.

  37. Thank you Shvetlana. I had a couple of queries about 2 different formulae but after reading all the comments and the answers that you have given, I could figure them out on my own. Thank you!

  38. I have Got the formula Thanks.
    =IF(F7>=I7,"Ok",IF(AND(F7>=""),"","Not Ok"))

    1. Hello Faheem Ahmad,

      If you are trying to show "Ok" when cell F7 contains a value over 17, and to show "Not Ok" when it is 17 or less, then you can use the following formula:
      =IF(F7>17,"Ok","Not ok")

      If your task is different, please describe it in more detail.

  39. Hello,

    I'm trying to use an if function to pull data from one worksheet to another based on the text in a column.

    Example: Sheet 1 has roughly 500 rows of data, and I want to pull only the rows that where "SS" is included (not exactly) in column C. I've failed so many different ways, not ever sure which formula example to share:/ Any help would be appreciated.

    1. Hello Jason,

      It sounds like you can filter the table by values in column C and copy all rows that contain "SS". If this doesn't help, please send a sample worksheet to support@ablebits.com and include a link to this blog post and your comment number. We'll do our best to assist you.

      1. I appreciate the response and i took you up on your offer. I just sent you a copy of the spreadsheet and a bit more details. Thanks for your follow up.

    2. Dear try Pivot Table, might be it helps.

  40. Hi Svetlana
    i have a formula below but i want to add one more thing if c2 is blank then answer should blank.
    =IF(b2>=c2, "Ok", "Not Ok")

    Thanks

    1. Hello Faheem Ahmad,

      Just like in the example above, you can use nested IF functions:
      =IF(C2="","",IF(B2>=C2,"Ok","Not Ok"))

      1. Thanks Dear <3

  41. Hello!
    I am a novice with excel trying to create a nested 'if' formula to calculate a bonus.

    It needs to calculate '50-59' as '1', '60-69' as '2' etc.

    This is what I have tried...

    =IF(D47>=50=60=70495969<79,3,0)))

    Neither is working for me and I have no idea what I'm doing?

    Please can someone help as I am trying to create a salary sheet for a small business.

    1. Hi Craig,

      For this task, you'd better use nested If functions beginning with the highest group (70-79 in this example):

      =IF(D47>=70, 3, IF(D47>=60, 2, IF(D47>=50, 1, "")))

    2. Hey Craig,

      You can try following formula and can modify as per your need.

      =IF(AND(A1>=60,A1<70),2,IF(AND(A1=50),1,""))

      I assumed you have data in cell A1.

      Let me know if this works for you. :)

      Anil Dhawan

  42. Thanks for replying. I will put my question better this time.
    I want to make a formula to say if D2 less than 1501 then "1"but if D2 is more than 1501 but less than 3001 then "2" and if D2 is greater than 3001 then "3". I just can't seem to use IF correctly to make this work.

    1. Hello Philip,

      You can use the following formula for your task:
      =IF(D2>3001,3,IF(D2>1501,2, 1))

      Just make sure you start with the highest number. If it's more than 3001, the formula will return 3, if it's more than 1501, it will return 2, otherwise, i.e. if it is less than 1501, it will return 1.

    2. hi,
      =IF(D2=1501,D23001,"3","")))

  43. I require a code for

    IF E4 = Closed then E4 fill colour will be Green if not it will be Red

    Wonder if you can help? also need it for whole column eg E4-E20?? same formula just whole column

    1. Hello Matty,

      You will need to add two conditional formatting rules: click on "Conditional formatting" icon on the Home tab, choose to "Use a formula to determine which cells to format" and enter =$E2="Closed", set the necessary fill color and click Ok. Then create a similar rule for Red color depending on the value you have in other cells.
      You can find a detailed description of conditional formatting in this blog post:
      https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/excel-conditional-formatting-formulas/

  44. Are there any rules while using the word "TRUE" and "FALSE" in IF formula
    For example,
    =IF(A2="TRUE","A","B") - Even A2 is true, this formula is not working. It gives always "B". Why? Then I just remove brackets and just put the formula like =IF(A2=TRUE,"A","B"), it is working. Any concerns?

    1. Hi Magil,

      The "TRUE" in brackets is a string, not boolean value.
      The formula =IF(A2="TRUE","A","B") will return "A" if you have the "TRUE" as string in cell A2. Please try to type "TRUE" in cell A2 and change the cell format to Text.

  45. if(V11>3 & V11<5)then (ok), if not (not ok)
    any one can help :\

    1. =IF(AND(V11>3, V11<5),"OK","NOT OK")

  46. Why does this change what I write?

    1. Hi,

      use this formula
      =if(D2=3001,"3",""))

      1. =IF(AND(D2>1501,D2<3001=3001,3,""))

        1. Formula didn't copy right - here you go.
          =IF(AND(N2>1501,N2=3001,3,""))

          1. Our blog engine often distorts "<" and ">" symbols in formulas, sorry for this, but we just cannot fix it on our side.

            If my understanding of the task is correct, I'd suggest using nested If's:

            =IF(D2>3001, 3, IF(D2>1501, 2, ""))

            If D2 is greater than 1501 but less than 3001 it returns 2, if D2 is greater than 3001 it returns 3, an empty string otherwise.

  47. I want to make a formula to say if D2 1501 but less than 3001 then "2" and if D2>3001 then "3". I just can't seem to use IF correctly to make this work.

  48. I want to make a formula to say if D21501 but less then 3001 then "2" and if D2>3001 then "3". I just can't seem to use IF correctly to make this work.

  49. In G8, enter an IF formula to calculate the share price difference between 2/25/2016 and 2/26/2016 for each of the 30 companies if that company’s share price was not zero on 2/26/2016. In case of a zero price, the formula returns “N/A”. Autofill the cells below to G37 with the formula in G8.Im not sure how to write this formula.

    1. I'd need a bit more info to actually write up a formula, but sounds like you'll want to do a VLOOKUP

      1. Hello!
        In a situation #N/A may use the formula IFNA.
        eg: =IFNA(VLOOKUP("Seattle",$A$5:$B$10,0),"Not found")
        (IFNA tests the result of the VLOOKUP function. Because Seattle is not found in the lookup range, VLOOKUP returns the #N/A error value. IFNA returns the string "Not found" in the cell instead of the standard #N/A error value.)

  50. Hello ,

    I want your support for if condition formula ,,,, I do export from 2 plants into different destinations and I want that the formula to chose for the destination the plant from which it departure , fro exemple: lets say departure plants ,, (X1 and X 2 ) and destination as follow, i have rapa , rochling and stirling park from X1 and for X2 i have the rest.....) i want the formula to put x1 or x 2 depanding on the destination,

    thanks in advance

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