Excel function reference

AND / OR / XOR / NOT

Quick answer

The boolean building blocks. Combine multiple TRUE/FALSE conditions into one, or flip a condition around.

AND(logical1, [logical2], ...) · OR(logical1, [logical2], ...) · XOR(logical1, [logical2], ...) · NOT(logical)

Real eligibility rules almost never come down to one condition. A scholarship might need a GPA above a threshold and attendance above a threshold; a weather warning might trigger on heavy rain or high wind, whichever comes first. IF only ever tests one TRUE/FALSE value, so AND/OR/XOR/NOT exist to combine several conditions into the single test IF needs.

AND requires every condition to hold; OR requires at least one; XOR is true when an odd number of the conditions are true, which with exactly two conditions means exactly one of them, not "at least one." NOT simply flips a single condition's result.

Syntax

AND(logical1, [logical2], ...) · OR(logical1, [logical2], ...) · XOR(logical1, [logical2], ...) · NOT(logical)

Argument	Description
logical1	Required. A condition that evaluates to TRUE or FALSE, e.g. B2>=60.
logical2, ...	Optional. More conditions. AND/OR/XOR accept up to 255.
(NOT)	NOT takes exactly one condition and returns its opposite.

A real example: a scholarship that needs two conditions at once

Combined with IF, AND turns two separate thresholds into one eligible/not-eligible flag:

=IF(AND(B2>=3.5,C2>=90),"Eligible","Not eligible")

Either threshold alone isn't enough; AND only returns TRUE when both GPA and attendance clear their bar in the same row.

Worked examples

Every condition must hold

	A	B	C
1	Student	GPA	Attendance %
2	Maya	3.7	92

=AND(B2>=3.5,C2>=90) → TRUE

Any one condition is enough

	A	B	C
1	Day	Rain %	Wind (mph)
2	Saturday	30	32

=OR(B2>50,C2>25) → TRUE

Exactly one, not both

	A	B
1	Front (1=open)	Back (1=open)
2	1	1

=XOR(A2=1,B2=1) → FALSE

(both open at once is not the flagged case; only one being open is)

Common mistakes

Reaching for OR when the rule actually needs every condition to hold. That's AND.
Assuming XOR works like "either one". With two conditions it specifically means exactly one, not "at least one" (that's OR).
Writing =TRUE() when a plain =TRUE would do, or vice versa. LearnExcel (and Excel) accept both.

Related functions

Try it yourself

A free, graded practice exercise using this exact function: instant feedback, no signup required.

Practice AND / OR / XOR / NOT →