How to use Excel OR Function (With Examples)

The Excel OR function lets you test multiple conditions simultaneously. It returns TRUE or FALSE as the output.

TRUE if any condition is satisfied
FALSE only when none of the conditions are satisfied

For example, you can check the students who could score more than 80 marks in either Science or Math. Student names are available in column A. Their maths and science scores are available in Column B and C.

=OR(B2>80,C2>80)

Where,

B2>80 is the condition to identify the students that scored 80+ marks in maths
C2>80 is the condition to identify the students that scored 80+ marks in science

Syntax

The OR is a simple function with the following syntax. It is combined with other functions like IF, AND, and NOT to create complex formulas in Excel.

=OR(logical1,[logical2],...)

Where logical1 and logical2 represent conditions. You can use comparison operators to define conditions or criteria. They are also known as calculation or logical operators in Excel.

“=” – Equal To
“<“- Less Than
“<=” – Less Than or Equal To
“>” – Greater Than
“>=” – Greater Than or Equal To
“<>” – Not Equal To

Important Notes:

You can input up to 255 logical conditions
The function is not case-sensitive
It does not support wildcards
You may get a #VALUE error due to invalid cell references or broken formulas

How to use the OR Function in Excel

Download the example spreadsheet used to demonstrate the OR function in the upcoming section. Practice is the key to success!

Download Now

Example 1: OR Function Basics

Let us find the fruits whose stock is greater than 50 or price is above $5. The fruit names are available in column A. Their stocks and prices are available in column B and C respectively.

Refer to the following image,

Here are the steps,

Select the cell D2
Type =OR
Select the first option from the popup
Specify the first condition as B2>500
Type , on your keyboard
Specify the second condition as C2>10
Complete the bracket using ) on your keyword
Press Enter key

Our final formula is as follows,

=OR(B2>50, C2>5)

Where,

B2>50 condition is to find the fruits whose stock is greater than 500
C2>5 condition is to find the fruits whose price is greater than $50

The results are displayed in the following image,

Example 2: Combining IF with OR function in Excel

Suppose that we are planning to launch a black friday sale. Our task is to identify the products whose 0 quantities were sold in the last month. We can also include the products that are priced below $100.

Refer to the following data. Here we have,

Product names in the first column
Last month sell in the second column
Price in the third column

But before we jump into the actual steps, let us first understand the IF function.

Explained: The IF Function in Excel

The IF is a logical function in Excel. It can test a condition and return values based on whether the condition is satisfied or not.

The IF function syntax is as follows:

=IF(logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])

Where,

logical_test is used to define the condition to be tested.
value_if_true is an optional argument where you can define the value to return if the condition is satisfied.
value_if_false argument lets you define the value to return if the condition is not satisfied.

Next, let us find the employees as discussed earlier. Here are the steps,

Click on the cell D2
Type =IF
Select the first option from the popup
Type OR
(As OR is a function in Excel, you will see the following popup)
Double-click on the OR command
Specify the first condition as B2=0
Type ,
Specify the next condition as C2=>100
Complete the bracket for the OR function using )
Type ,
Specify the value “Eligible” if the logical test is TRUE
Type ,
Specify the value “Not Eligible” if the logical test is FALSE
Complete the bracket for the IF function using )
Press Enter key

Our final formula is as follows,

=IF(OR(B2=0, C2>=100), "Eligible", "Not Eligible")

Where,

B2=0 is used to find the products that were not sold in last month
C2=>100 is used to find products with price greater than $100
Eligible is the desired value to be returned if either of the conditions is satisfied
Not Eligible is the desired value to be returned if both of the conditions are not satisfied

The results are displayed in the following image,

Takeaway

The OR is a simple logical function with easy-to-use syntax. It can be combined with various pre-built functions, such as IF and AND, to create powerful formulas.

Please comment below if you are stuck somewhere or having any particular error while using the OR function. I will answer your questions as soon as possible.

Additional Resources: