Logic function

Excel OR function

Q: How do I use IF with OR in Excel?

Put OR inside IF: =IF(OR(A2="Yes",B2>100),"Flag",""). IF returns "Flag" when either condition is true.

Q: Can I use AND and OR together in Excel?

Yes. Nest one inside the other: =AND(A2="Sales",OR(B2>5,C2="Lead")) needs Sales plus at least one of the other two.

Q: How do I check if a cell equals one of several values?

Use OR with an array constant: =OR(A2={"Red","Blue","Green"}). It returns TRUE if A2 matches any of them.

OR checks several conditions and returns TRUE if any one of them is true. It returns FALSE only when every test fails. Pair it with IF to flag rows that match any of a few rules.

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

Arguments

logical1: The first condition to check.
logical2: More conditions. You can check up to 255 in total.

OR examples

Every result below was calculated from this sample sheet by the same spreadsheet engine the Cellwise app uses.

	A	B	C	D
1	Ticket	Priority	Days open	Customer
2	T-881	High	1	Acme Co
3	T-882	Low	9	Brightline
4	T-883	Medium	2	Northwind
5	T-884	Low	3	Acme Co

=OR(B2="High",C2>7)
Result: TRUE
T-881 is High priority, so OR returns TRUE even though it is only 1 day old.
=OR(B4="High",C4>7)
Result: FALSE
T-883 is Medium and 2 days old. Neither test passes, so OR returns FALSE.
=IF(OR(B3="High",C3>7),"Escalate","OK")
Result: Escalate
T-882 is low priority but 9 days old, so it gets escalated.
=OR(D5="Acme Co",D5="Northwind")
Result: TRUE
Checks whether the customer is one of two key accounts.

How to use OR

List the conditions where any one is enough.
Type =OR( and enter each condition separated by commas.
Close the bracket to get TRUE or FALSE.
Wrap it in IF to return a label like "Escalate".

Common OR mistakes

Writing B2="High" OR "Medium"

Each test needs the full comparison: OR(B2="High",B2="Medium").

Confusing OR with AND

OR is TRUE when any test passes. If all tests must pass, use AND.

Long lists of the same cell

For many allowed values, =OR(B2={"High","Urgent","P1"}) is shorter than repeating B2.

OR FAQ

How do I use IF with OR in Excel?

Put OR inside IF: =IF(OR(A2="Yes",B2>100),"Flag",""). IF returns "Flag" when either condition is true.

Can I use AND and OR together in Excel?

Yes. Nest one inside the other: =AND(A2="Sales",OR(B2>5,C2="Lead")) needs Sales plus at least one of the other two.

How do I check if a cell equals one of several values?

Use OR with an array constant: =OR(A2={"Red","Blue","Green"}). It returns TRUE if A2 matches any of them.