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OR

OR

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Description

Use this function to determine if any conditions in a set are TRUE. Supported in Chains. Can be used with CHILDREFS.  

 

Syntax

OR(logical_1, […, logical_255])

 

Inputs

This function accepts the following arguments:

Name Required Description Valid input
logical_1 Yes The first condition or logical value to evaluate. A cell reference, a cell range, an expression, or a formula which expresses a logical value.
logical_n No Additional conditions or logical values to evaluate.   A cell reference, a cell range, an expression, or a formula which expresses a logical value. Up to 254 additional values can be provided.

 

Examples

Sample data

  A B
1 TRUE FALSE
2 FALSE FALSE
3 15 20
4 Apple Banana

Sample Formulas

Use case Formula Explanation and Result
Determine if at least one of two conditions is true. =OR(A1,B1)

This formula works in the following manner:

  • OR(: This is the function itself.
  • A1: The first logical argument (TRUE).
  • B1: The second logical argument (FALSE).
  • The function returns TRUE because at least one argument (A1) is TRUE.

For this data set this formula returns TRUE.
Determine if at least one of two conditions is true. =OR(A2,B2)

This formula works in the following manner:

  • OR(: This is the function itself.
  • A2: The first logical argument (FALSE).
  • B2: The second logical argument (FALSE).
  • The function returns FALSE because all arguments are FALSE.

For this data set this formula returns FALSE.
Check if a number falls within one of two conditions. =OR(A3>10,B3<25)

This formula works in the following manner:

  • OR(: This is the function itself.
  • A3>10: The first logical test (15 > 10) evaluates to TRUE.
  • B3<25: The second logical test (20 < 25) evaluates to TRUE.
  • The function returns TRUE because at least one argument is TRUE.

For this data set this formula returns TRUE.
Check if any value within a specified range is true. =OR(A1:B2)

This formula works in the following manner:

  • OR(: This is the function itself.
  • A1:B2: The argument is a range of cells. The function checks if any cell in this range (A1, B1, A2, B2) evaluates to TRUE.
  • A1 contains the logical value TRUE.
  • The function returns TRUE because at least one cell in the range is TRUE.

For this data set this formula returns TRUE.

 

Notes

  • OR returns TRUE if any argument is TRUE, and FALSE only if all arguments are FALSE.
  • The OR function can take up to 255 arguments.
  • If an argument is an array or reference, only the first element is used in the evaluation.
  • The OR function ignores empty cells and text values that cannot be translated into TRUE or FALSE.
  • OR does not consider case when making an evaluation. For example, OR(A1="yes", A1="YES", A1="Yes") will return TRUE if A1 contains any variation of "yes", regardless of capitalization.

 

Tips

  • Use OR in combination with IF to create more complex conditional statements.
  • OR can be used with cell ranges as well as individual cells.
  • When using OR with comparison operators, make sure each condition is complete. For example: OR(A1>10,<5) should be  OR(A1>10,A1<5).
  • In conditional formatting, OR can be useful for highlighting cells that meet any of several conditions.

 

Related functions

AND
CHOOSE
IF
IFERROR
IFNA
IFS
NOT
OR

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Description Use this function to determine if any conditions in a set are TRUE. Supported in Chains. Can be used with...