Radenkovich’s P(a)lace

Very useful function in Excel is this one. It tests a value in a specific cell to see if that value meets a certain condition. If condition is true, first result will happen, if false, a second result will happen.

It looks complex (especially combined with VLOOKUP – my favorite one) so many people avoid using it. It was complicated to me in beginning but after some time I’m stopped to notice it complexity. Now, its use is so mechanical, I’m not even think much of it when I’m using it.

How to write IF function

=IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)

Different parts of the function inside bracket could be separated by commas (,) or by (;). It depend on Windows’s regional settings.

First parameter is the “logical test”, which is a logical expression that can only have TRUE or FALSE as the answer. Next two parameters are “value_if_true” and “value_if_false”.

Which one of these two values will be result depend on logical test. Remember that the logical test can only have a TRUE or FALSE result. If the answer is true, then the first value is displayed. If the answer is false, then the second value is displayed.

Example

=IF(A1 < 100, A, B)

Breaking the example down into its three parts we have:

logical test: A1 < 100, (”<” means less than)
result if true: A
result if false: B

Explanation of this function will be:

• If the value in A1 is less than 100, the value shown will be A
• If the value in A1 is NOT less than 100, the value shown will be B