AND, OR and NOT functions in Excel

AND is true when every condition is true, OR when at least one is true, and NOT reverses a condition.

IF can test one condition. Real rules have several: pass in every subject, a discount if the customer is a member or the bill is large. AND, OR and NOT combine conditions into one answer that IF can use.

Syntax

=AND(logical1, [logical2], ...)

=OR(logical1, [logical2], ...)

=NOT(logical)

Argument	What it is
`logical1, logical2, ...`	Conditions that are each true or false, such as C2>=33.

Examples

Each result below is what Excel itself showed for the formula on the sample sheet.

Sample sheet: Marks of eight students in three subjects. One Science mark is missing (cell D6 is empty).

	A	B	C	D	E
1	Name	Class	Maths	Science	English
2	Asha	8A	78	85	91
3	Ravi	8B	45	52	60
4	Meena	8A	92	88	79
5	Kabir	8B	33	41	38
6	Tara	8A	67		72
7	Joy	8B	88	90	84
8	Neha	8A	54	61	58
9	Imran	8B	78	73	69

=AND(C2>=33,D2>=33,E2>=33)
Result: TRUE
Asha passed all three subjects, so every condition is true: TRUE.
=AND(C5>=33,D5>=33,E5>=33)
Result: TRUE
Kabir has 33, 41 and 38. All three pass, TRUE.
=OR(C3>=90,D3>=90,E3>=90)
Result: FALSE
Did Ravi score 90 or more in any subject? No: FALSE.
=IF(AND(C4>=75,D4>=75,E4>=75),"Merit","")
Result: Merit
Used inside IF: Meena has 92, 88 and 79, all at least 75, so Merit.
=IF(OR(C5<40,D5<40,E5<40),"Needs help","On track")
Result: Needs help
Kabir is below 40 in two subjects. One would be enough: Needs help.
=NOT(B2="8A")
Result: FALSE
NOT turns TRUE into FALSE. Asha is in 8A, so the inner test is TRUE and the result is FALSE.

How they work

Function	Returns TRUE when
AND	all of its conditions are true
OR	at least one of its conditions is true
NOT	its one condition is false

Each returns only TRUE or FALSE. On their own those words are of limited use in a report. Their real job is to sit in the first slot of IF:

=IF(AND(condition1, condition2), result_if_both, result_otherwise)

Combining AND with OR

They can be nested. "A member, and either the bill is over 2,000 or it is a festival day" becomes AND(member="Yes", OR(bill>2000, festival="Yes")). Write the rule out in words first, with the brackets where you would pause, and then turn it into a formula.

A test on a whole range

AND and OR accept a range of conditions. =AND(C2:E2>=33) checks all three marks at once. In Excel 2021 and Microsoft 365 this works as typed. In older versions it must be entered with Ctrl, Shift and Enter together.

To count how many conditions are true, which AND and OR cannot do, use COUNTIF: =COUNTIF(C2:E2,">=33") gives the number of subjects passed.

NOT, and when to avoid it

NOT is useful for turning round a test that only exists one way, such as NOT(ISBLANK(A2)) for "the cell has something in it". For simple comparisons the opposite sign is clearer: B2<>"8A" says the same as NOT(B2="8A") and is easier to read.

Blank cells and text

An empty cell in a comparison such as D6>=33 counts as zero, so the test is FALSE. That may or may not be what you want. A student who was absent is not the same as a student who scored nothing. Test for the empty cell first: =IF(D6="","Absent",IF(D6>=33,"Pass","Fail")).

AND and OR do not work on rows inside SUM and COUNT formulas

A common wish is =SUM(IF(AND(A2:A10="North",B2:B10>100),C2:C10)). It gives the wrong answer, because AND squeezes the whole range into a single TRUE or FALSE. To add or count rows that meet several conditions, use SUMIFS and COUNTIFS, which are made for the job.

Common mistakes

Writing the words between the conditions, as in C2>=33 AND D2>=33. In Excel, AND is a function: the conditions go inside its brackets, separated by commas.
Using AND where OR is meant. "Region is North and South" can never be true of one row. In everyday speech we say "and" for a list of acceptable values. In a formula that is OR.
Forgetting that OR is true when both are true. If you need "one or the other but not both", the function is XOR.

In Google Sheets

AND, OR and NOT are the same in Google Sheets.

Related functions

Every result on this page was calculated in Microsoft Excel (version 16.0, build 20326) on 12 November 2026, not typed by hand.

This is an independent help site. It is not connected with or approved by Microsoft. Excel and Microsoft 365 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, named here only to say which program a formula is for. The people and figures in the sample sheets are made up.