The Excel NOT function flips a logical value: TRUE becomes FALSE and FALSE becomes TRUE. That one-argument simplicity makes it the cleanest way to express “everything except” conditions — cells that are not blank, values that are not in range, rows that do not match. It works in every version of Excel and pairs naturally with IF, AND, and OR.
=NOT(TRUE) is FALSE; =NOT(B2>=70) is TRUE only when B2 is below 70.
Syntax
| Argument | Description | |
|---|---|---|
logical | Required | Any value or expression that evaluates to TRUE or FALSE — a comparison like B2>=70, another logical function, or a cell holding a boolean. Numbers work too: 0 is treated as FALSE, every other number as TRUE. |
Available in: every version of Excel, on every platform. NOT is one of the original logical functions and behaves identically everywhere.
Invert a simple test
Scores sit in B2:B5 and the passing mark is 70. Instead of writing a “failed” test from scratch, invert the pass test:
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Student | Score | Needs retake? |
| 2 | Ava | 88 | FALSE |
| 3 | Ben | 64 | TRUE |
| 4 | Cara | 70 | FALSE |
| 5 | Dev | 59 | TRUE |
Of course =B2<70 gives the same answer here — for a single comparison the operator is shorter. NOT earns its keep when the thing you are inverting is not a simple comparison: a whole AND/OR expression, an ISBLANK check, or a value another formula already produced.
Try it: interactive NOT demo
Change the score and watch the test — and its NOT-inverted twin — flip in real time.
NOT with AND, OR and ISBLANK
NOT’s best work happens around other logical functions. The classic: flag cells that are not blank.
Invert a compound condition without rewriting every piece of it:
De Morgan’s law is worth knowing: NOT(AND(x, y)) equals OR(NOT(x), NOT(y)). When a formula reads awkwardly one way, the other form often says the same thing more plainly.
Counting with NOT: booleans coerce to 1/0 in math, so =SUMPRODUCT(--NOT(ISBLANK(A2:A100))) counts non-blank cells. The double minus -- converts TRUE/FALSE into 1/0 — see the TRUE and FALSE pages for the full story.
Errors & common pitfalls
#VALUE! — the argument isn’t logical. Text that isn’t “TRUE” or “FALSE” makes NOT choke: =NOT("yes") returns #VALUE!. Test the text instead: =NOT(A2="yes").
Pitfall: NOT takes exactly one argument. =NOT(A2>5, B2>5) is a syntax error. To negate several tests at once, wrap them first: =NOT(AND(A2>5, B2>5)).
Pitfall: NOT(range) spills in Excel 365. =NOT(A2:A10="x") returns ten results in Microsoft 365 but behaves differently in legacy Excel, where it silently grabs only the value on the formula’s own row. For one-cell answers, point NOT at one cell.
Pitfall: double negatives read badly. =IF(NOT(A2<>""), …) works, but =IF(A2="", …) says the same thing. If a NOT makes a formula harder to read aloud, flip the comparison operator instead.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
What does the NOT function do in Excel?
=NOT(TRUE) returns FALSE and =NOT(FALSE) returns TRUE. Point it at any test — =NOT(B2>=70) is TRUE only when B2 is below 70.Is NOT(A2=B2) the same as A2<>B2?
<> operator is shorter and clearer. NOT becomes the better tool when you’re inverting something bigger: a whole AND/OR expression or a function like ISBLANK.How do I test that a cell is NOT blank?
=NOT(ISBLANK(A2)) returns TRUE when A2 contains anything. The operator version =A2<>"" is nearly equivalent, but note it also treats a formula returning "" as blank, while ISBLANK does not.Can NOT take more than one argument?
=NOT(AND(A2>5, B2>5)) is TRUE unless both tests pass.Why does NOT return #VALUE!?
=NOT("yes"). Turn the text into a test: =NOT(A2="yes"). Numbers are fine: 0 counts as FALSE, everything else as TRUE.Master functions like this in one day
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