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AND / OR / NOT

Logic & error handling

Combine several conditions into one TRUE/FALSE — the logic that powers a real IF.

Difficulty

Amateur

Excel file

1What is it?

AND returns TRUE only when every condition it's given is true; OR returns TRUE when at least one is; NOT flips a TRUE to FALSE and back. On their own they return TRUE or FALSE, but their real job is to sit inside an IF as the test — 'if the invoice is open AND over 60 days', 'if the customer is new OR high-value'. They're how you check more than one thing at once without stacking IFs.

2What it looks like

AND(logical1, [logical2], …)

logical1: The first condition, like B2>0 or A2="Open".
[logical2], …: More conditions. AND needs them all true; OR needs any one.
NOT(logical): NOT takes a single condition and reverses it.

3When you use it

Two-part test inside an IF: =IF(AND(B2="Open", C2>60), "Chase", "").
Either-or flag: =IF(OR(A2="VIP", B2>100000), "Priority", "Standard").
Invert a check: =IF(NOT(ISBLANK(B2)), "Filled", "Missing").

4See it in action

Change the inputs — the formula and result update live. Prefer the real thing? Download the Excel file and open it in Excel.

Approve when the score AND income both clear the bar — or switch to OR (either) or NOT (flip the score test).

=IF(AND(B2>=650, B3>=50000), "Approve", "Review")Review

	A	B	C
1	Field	Value	Result
2	Credit score		Review
3	Income

The lime cell holds the formula — click it (or any cell) to see its contents in the bar above, just like Excel. Edit the blue cells to watch it recompute.

Function

5Common errors

Always FALSE (AND)One condition can never be true, so the whole AND fails.

Fix: Test each condition alone to find the one that's never true.

Always TRUE (OR)One condition is always true, so OR always passes.

Fix: Check each condition — an always-true test (like B2>=0 on positive data) makes OR meaningless.

Reads backwardsAND vs OR is swapped.

Fix: AND = every condition; OR = any condition. Say the rule out loud to pick.

6Better functions & alternatives

IF — AND/OR/NOT are almost always the test inside an IF.
IFS — When conditions are checked in sequence, not combined.
COUNTIFS / SUMIFS — When you're counting or summing rows that meet several conditions, not testing one row.

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