IF with AND / OR

All versionsANDOR

A single IF tests one thing. To make a decision on several conditions at once — “approve only if income is high and debt is low,” “flag if status is Cancelled or Refunded” — nest AND or OR inside IF.

Quick formula: to return "Approve" only when both tests pass:

=IF(AND(B2>=50000, C2<=0.3), "Approve", "Review")

AND(…) is TRUE only if every condition is TRUE; OR(…) is TRUE if any is.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

IF AND OR

The example

Loan applicants. Approve when income ≥ $50k and debt ratio ≤ 30%.

	A	B	C	D
1	Name	Income	Debt ratio	Decision
2	Ana	$62,000	25%	Approve
3	Ben	$48,000	20%	Review
4	Cy	$70,000	40%	Review

The formula

The decision formula, copied down:

=IF(AND(B2>=50000, C2<=0.3), "Approve", "Review") // Ana passes both → Approve

How it works

AND collapses several tests into one TRUE/FALSE for IF:

AND(B2>=50000, C2<=0.3) is TRUE only when income is at least 50k and debt ratio is at most 30%.
For Ana (62k, 25%) both hold → AND is TRUE → IF returns "Approve".
For Ben the income fails; for Cy the debt ratio fails; either failure makes AND FALSE → "Review".
Swap AND for OR to approve when at least one condition is met.

Try it: interactive demo

Live demo

Set income and debt ratio, and pick AND or OR logic.

Income

Debt ratio

Logic

Decision:

Variations

OR logic

Flag a row if status is Cancelled or Refunded:

=IF(OR(B2="Cancelled", B2="Refunded"), "Closed", "Open")

Mixed AND + OR

Combine them — approve if income is high AND (employed OR has a co-signer):

=IF(AND(B2>=50000, OR(C2="Employed", D2="Yes")), "Approve", "Review")

Math shortcut for AND / OR

Multiplying conditions = AND; adding = OR:

=IF((B2>=50000)*(C2<=0.3), "Approve", "Review")

Pitfalls & errors

Stringing conditions wrong. =IF(B2>=50000 AND C2<=0.3, …) is not Excel syntax. AND/OR are functions: AND(test1, test2).

Don’t over-nest IFs. Five nested IFs for what AND/OR can express in one is a maintenance headache. Reach for AND, OR, IFS, or a lookup table.

Text comparisons ignore case. B2="cancelled" matches "Cancelled". Use EXACT if you truly need case sensitivity.

Practice workbook

📊

Download the free IF with AND / OR practice workbook

The applicant table with live IF+AND, the OR and mixed variants, and the math shortcut, plus 4 challenges with answers. No sign-up required.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use IF with multiple conditions in Excel?

Nest AND or OR inside IF: =IF(AND(B2>=50000, C2<=0.3), "Approve", "Review"). AND requires every condition to be true; OR requires at least one.

What's the difference between AND and OR in IF?

AND returns TRUE only when all conditions are true, so the IF's value-if-true fires only then. OR returns TRUE when any one condition is true.

Can I combine AND and OR in one formula?

Yes: =IF(AND(B2>=50000, OR(C2="Employed", D2="Yes")), "Approve", "Review") approves when income is high and the person is either employed or has a co-signer.

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Function references: IF · AND · OR