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How to Use the Google Sheets IF ELSE Function (The Right Way!)

May 8, 2024

The IF ELSE function in Google Sheets can be used to set conditions that give an output depending on whether a given condition is fulfilled or not. It works as follows:

If condition is true, then value if true; else, value if false

The IF function can work without the ELSE value but it will display the value FALSE if the condition is not fulfilled. The same logic applies to the IFS function.

While there is no explicit ELSE function in Google Sheets, it does not mean that you cannot add the ELSE value to your IF function. In fact, the ELSE value is within the syntax of the IF function!

Read this guide to learn how to replace the FALSE value with something else and ensure your sheet looks neater than before.

IF ELSE Google Sheets Syntax

ELSE as value

=IF(condition, value_if_true, else_value)

Where

condition is the condition to fulfill

value_if_true is the value displayed if the condition is met

else_value is the value displayed if the condition is not fulfilled

ELSE IF statement

=IF(condition1, value_if_true1, IF(condition2, value_if_true2, value_if_false))

Where

condition1 is the first condition to fulfill

value_if_true1 is the value displayed if condition1 is met

condition2 is the condition to check if condition1 is not met 

value_if_true2 is the value displayed if condition2 is met but not condition1

value_if_false is the value displayed if both condition1 and condition2 are not met

IF ELSE Google Sheets  Examples

ELSE statement as string

Step 1: Identify the condition and the values to display

Sheet to analyze

We want to know whether the entry passed or failed the assessment by checking if the weighted score is at least 37. The resulting conditions and values are the following:

Condition: weighted score > 36

Value_if_true: “PASSED”

Value_if_false: “FAILED”

Step 2: Use =IF(condition, value_if_true, value_if_false)

The function is now

=if(E2>36,"PASSED","FAILED")

Step 3: Press Enter

You can opt to extend the function to the other rows of the column, giving you this result:

IF ELSE with ELSE value

ELSE statement stored in another cell

Step 1: Identify the condition and the values to display

Sheet to analyze

We want to know whether the entry passed or failed the assessment by checking if the weighted score is at least 37. For this example, we will store the values intoThe resulting conditions and values are the following:

Condition: weighted score >= 37

Value_if_true: “PASSED”

Value_if_false: “FAILED”

For this example, we will store these values to other cells, and then point to them.

Step 2: Use =IF(condition, value_if_true, value_if_false)

Noting where the values are stored, the function for Row 2 is now

=if(E2>=$G$2,$G$5,$G$6)

We added the dollar signs since we plan to copy this to other rows in the same column.

Step 3: Press Enter

You can opt to extend this to the other rows of the column, giving you this result:

IF ELSE with ELSE value stored in another cell

ELSE IF statement

You can set another IF statement as the ELSE value, converting it to ELSE IF. 

Step 1: Identify the conditions and the values to display 

Sheet to analyze

At this time, we want to introduce a tiered assessment system. First, we want to check whether the entry passed or failed the assessment by checking if the weighted score is at least 37:

Condition1: weighted score > 36

Value_if_true1: “PASSED”

Next, we want to check if the score difference is less than 5:

Condition2: 36 - weighted score < 5

Value_if_true2: “CLOSE TO PASSING”

Value_if_false: “FAILED”

Step 2: Use =IF(condition, value_if_true, value_if_false)

The function is now:

=if(E2>36,"PASSED",if(36-E2<5,"CLOSE TO PASSING","FAILED"))

Step 3: Press Enter

You can opt to extend this to the other rows of the column, giving you this result:

IF ELSE IF statement

Sample Sheet

Check out our IF ELSE Google Sheets sample sheet here.

Related IF Functions 

IF: Allows you to check for specific conditions across a dataset

SUMIF: Use to sum numbers if they meet a certain condition..

SUMIFS: Sums data from cells that meet multiple criteria

COUNTIF: count data if it fulfils certain criteria

COUNTIFS: Count data that fulfils two or more criteria.

COUNT IF Not Null: Count cells if they contain data

IFERROR: Allows you to output values when an Error in a formula occurs

IFTHEN: Allows you tor write statements that use IF X Then Y Logic

IF AND: Combines the functionality of the IF and AND functions

Multiple IF: Learn how to use multiple if statements in a single formula


IF OR: Evaluates multiple conditions and produces a TRUE result when any of them are met.

IF Contains: Returns cells that contain a particular text. 

AVERAGEIF: Calculate an average for numbers within a data range if they meet the provided criteria. 

If you want to learn how to extract a domain from email in Google Sheets, we also suggest checking out our detailed guide. 

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