The Symbol will display, select (normal text) in the box of Font and choose Mathematical Operators in the box of Subset. You will see less than or equal to, greater than or equal to, approximately equal to symbols in the option box. And this method can also be applied to Microsoft Excel. A few key words to keep in mind. At most means ' no more than, ' ' less than or equal to, ' or ' not greater than' The math symbol that you will use for at most is ≤ At least means ' no less than ' or ' greater than or equal to 'The math symbol that you will use for at least is ≥.
Symbol font – Unicode alternatives for Greek and special characters in HTML
ANSI | MACROMAN | DIFFERENCES | WGL4 | SYMBOL | WEBDINGS | WINGDINGS | WINGDINGS 2 | WINGDINGS 3
- Greater-Than But Not Equal To / Greater Than But Not Equal To: U+02269 + U+0FE00 ≩︀ gvertneqq: Greater-Than But Not Equal To / Greater Than But Not Equal To + Variation Selector-1: U+0226A ≪ ll: Much Less-Than / Much Less Than: U+0226A + U+00338 ≪̸ NotLessLess.
- Not equal to is an accepted mathematical symbol - so would this be acceptable: $not$? I was searching around but I couldn't find any qualified sites that would point me in that direction. So, I would like to know if there are symbols for, not greater, less than, less than or equal to, greater than or equal to x. Thanks for your help and time!
- Greater than or equal to symbol alt code (keyboard shortcut) Every symbol in Microsoft Word has a unique code that can be used to type that symbol into your document. The Alt code for Greater than or equal to symbol is 2265. The two simple steps below will show you how to type Greater than or equal to symbol using the alt code (shortcut).
Symbol font should not be used in Web pages. Specifying Symbol font is contrary to the published specifications, has never been a documented feature of HTML and is not reliable. This page is not a demonstration of how to use Symbol font; it provides a warning of the problems that it causes, and shows how to use Unicode instead.
Monotype Typography produce their non-Unicode Symbol font in a Windows OpenType® version which is supplied with Windows Vista, a Windows TrueType® version which was supplied with Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, a Macintosh TrueType version which was supplied with Mac OS 9, and PostScript® versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX. Even though the Mac OS 9 and Windows versions of Symbol font have identical character sets, a Web page that specifies Symbol font and displays correctly on Windows cannot be relied on when viewed with Internet Explorer under Mac OS 9 – the Greek letters display as intended, but many of the other characters do not. With Mac OS X 10.1, Apple supply a system font called Symbol that has the characters at their Unicode code points.
For Windows, the Internet Explorer, Edge, Google Chrome and Opera browsers allow the non-Unicode Symbol font to be specified in HTML or CSS, to enable the basic Greek alphabet and many other special characters to be displayed.
The more standards-compliant browsers, such as Firefox, do not support non-Unicode fonts such as Symbol, and correctly display the normal Unicode characters instead. For example, they display D instead of Δ for decimal code point 68.
Fortunately, the greatly extended range of character entity references supported in HTML 4.01 together with the increased number of characters in Microsoft’s WGL4 TrueType fonts and Apple’s Lucida Grande font provide an easier and more reliable way to display most of the characters for which the Symbol font was formerly required. Even more characters are becoming displayable as Unicode support in browsers and fonts becomes more widespread. The fourth and fifth columns in the following tables show how to use Unicode characters that are equivalent to almost all of the characters in Symbol font.
In the following tables, the first 2 columns are intended to demonstrate the problems caused by using Symbol font. It is possible that your combination of browser and operating system will show Greek and special characters, but browsers that conform to the published standards will demonstrate why Symbol font should not be used in Web pages.
If you want to print this page, you will probably need to use either landscape orientation or shrink-to-fit.
Unicode ranges containing equivalent characters | |
| |
Character with no Unicode equivalent (1) |
Basic Latin : Unicode U+0000 – U+007F (0–127)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | ‘’ | space | - |   is ‘’ | Space | WGL4 | |
! | exclam | - | ! is ! | Exclamation mark | WGL4 | |||
# | numbersign | - | # is # | Number sign | WGL4 | |||
% | percent | - | % is % | Percent sign | WGL4 | |||
& | ampersand | & is & | & is & | Ampersand | WGL4 | |||
( | parenleft | - | ( is ( | Left parenthesis | WGL4 | |||
) | parenright | - | ) is ) | Right parenthesis | WGL4 | |||
+ | plus | - | + is + | Plus sign | WGL4 | |||
, | comma | - | , is , | Comma | WGL4 | |||
. | period | - | . is . | Full stop | WGL4 | |||
/ | slash | - | / is / | Solidus | WGL4 | |||
0 | zero | - | 0 is 0 | Digit zero | WGL4 | |||
1 | one | - | 1 is 1 | Digit one | WGL4 | |||
2 | two | - | 2 is 2 | Digit two | WGL4 | |||
3 | three | - | 3 is 3 | Digit three | WGL4 | |||
4 | four | - | 4 is 4 | Digit four | WGL4 | |||
5 | five | - | 5 is 5 | Digit five | WGL4 | |||
6 | six | - | 6 is 6 | Digit six | WGL4 | |||
7 | seven | - | 7 is 7 | Digit seven | WGL4 | |||
8 | eight | - | 8 is 8 | Digit eight | WGL4 | |||
9 | nine | - | 9 is 9 | Digit nine | WGL4 | |||
: | colon | - | : is : | Colon | WGL4 | |||
; | semicolon | - | ; is ; | Semicolon | WGL4 | |||
< | less | < is < | < is < | Less-than sign | WGL4 | |||
= | equal | - | = is = | Equals sign | WGL4 | |||
> | greater | > is > | > is > | Greater-than sign | WGL4 | |||
? | question | - | ? is ? | Question mark | WGL4 | |||
[ | bracketleft | - | [ is [ | Left square bracket | WGL4 | |||
] | bracketright | - | ] is ] | Right square bracket | WGL4 | |||
_ | underscore | - | _ is _ | Low line | WGL4 | |||
{ | braceleft | - | { is { | Left curly bracket | WGL4 | |||
| | bar | - | | is | | Vertical line | WGL4 | |||
} | braceright | - | } is } | Right curly bracket | WGL4 |
Latin-1 Supplement : Unicode U+0080 – U+00FF (128–255)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | ° | degree | ° is ° | ° is ° | Degree sign | WGL4 | |
± | plusminus | ± is ± | ± is ± | Plus-minus sign | WGL4 | |||
´ | multiply | × is × | × is × | Multiplication sign | WGL4 | |||
¸ | divide | ÷ is ÷ | ÷ is ÷ | Division sign | WGL4 | |||
Ò | registerserif | ® is ® | ® is ® | Registered sign (serif) | WGL4 | |||
Ó | copyrightserif | © is © | © is © | Copyright sign (serif) | WGL4 | |||
Ø | logicalnot | ¬ is ¬ | ¬ is ¬ | Not sign | WGL4 | |||
â | registersans | ® is ® | ® is ® | Registered sign (sans-serif) | WGL4 | |||
ã | copyrightsans | © is © | © is © | Copyright sign (sans-serif) | WGL4 |
Latin Extended-B : Unicode U+0180 – U+024F (384–591)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | ¦ | florin | ƒ is ƒ | ƒ is ƒ | Latin small letter f with hook | WGL4 |
Greek : Unicode U+0370 – U+03FF (880–1023)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | A | Alpha | Α is Α | Α is Α | Greek capital letter alpha | WGL4 | |
B | Beta | Β is Β | Β is Β | Greek capital letter beta | WGL4 | |||
G | Gamma | Γ is Γ | Γ is Γ | Greek capital letter gamma | WGL4 | |||
D | Delta | Δ is Δ | Δ is Δ | Greek capital letter delta | WGL4 | |||
E | Epsilon | Ε is Ε | Ε is Ε | Greek capital letter epsilon | WGL4 | |||
Z | Zeta | Ζ is Ζ | Ζ is Ζ | Greek capital letter zeta | WGL4 | |||
H | Eta | Η is Η | Η is Η | Greek capital letter eta | WGL4 | |||
Q | Theta | Θ is Θ | Θ is Θ | Greek capital letter theta | WGL4 | |||
I | Iota | Ι is Ι | Ι is Ι | Greek capital letter iota | WGL4 | |||
K | Kappa | Κ is Κ | Κ is Κ | Greek capital letter kappa | WGL4 | |||
L | Lambda | Λ is Λ | Λ is Λ | Greek capital letter lamda | WGL4 | |||
M | Mu | Μ is Μ | Μ is Μ | Greek capital letter mu | WGL4 | |||
N | Nu | Ν is Ν | Ν is Ν | Greek capital letter nu | WGL4 | |||
X | Xi | Ξ is Ξ | Ξ is Ξ | Greek capital letter xi | WGL4 | |||
O | Omicron | Ο is Ο | Ο is Ο | Greek capital letter omicron | WGL4 | |||
P | Pi | Π is Π | Π is Π | Greek capital letter pi | WGL4 | |||
R | Rho | Ρ is Ρ | Ρ is Ρ | Greek capital letter rho | WGL4 | |||
S | Sigma | Σ is Σ | Σ is Σ | Greek capital letter sigma | WGL4 | |||
T | Tau | Τ is Τ | Τ is Τ | Greek capital letter tau | WGL4 | |||
U | Upsilon | Υ is Υ | Υ is Υ | Greek capital letter upsilon | WGL4 | |||
F | Phi | Φ is Φ | Φ is Φ | Greek capital letter phi | WGL4 | |||
C | Chi | Χ is Χ | Χ is Χ | Greek capital letter chi | WGL4 | |||
Y | Psi | Ψ is Ψ | Ψ is Ψ | Greek capital letter psi | WGL4 | |||
W | Omega | Ω is Ω | Ω is Ω | Greek capital letter omega | WGL4 | |||
a | alpha | α is α | α is α | Greek small letter alpha | WGL4 | |||
b | beta | β is β | β is β | Greek small letter beta | WGL4 | |||
g | gamma | γ is γ | γ is γ | Greek small letter gamma | WGL4 | |||
d | delta | δ is δ | δ is δ | Greek small letter delta | WGL4 | |||
e | epsilon | ε is ε | ε is ε | Greek small letter epsilon | WGL4 | |||
z | zeta | ζ is ζ | ζ is ζ | Greek small letter zeta | WGL4 | |||
h | eta | η is η | η is η | Greek small letter eta | WGL4 | |||
q | theta | θ is θ | θ is θ | Greek small letter theta | WGL4 | |||
i | iota | ι is ι | ι is ι | Greek small letter iota | WGL4 | |||
k | kappa | κ is κ | κ is κ | Greek small letter kappa | WGL4 | |||
l | lambda | λ is λ | λ is λ | Greek small letter lamda | WGL4 | |||
m | mu | μ is μ | μ is μ | Greek small letter mu | WGL4 | |||
n | nu | ν is ν | ν is ν | Greek small letter nu | WGL4 | |||
x | xi | ξ is ξ | ξ is ξ | Greek small letter xi | WGL4 | |||
o | omicron | ο is ο | ο is ο | Greek small letter omicron | WGL4 | |||
p | pi | π is π | π is π | Greek small letter pi | WGL4 | |||
r | rho | ρ is ρ | ρ is ρ | Greek small letter rho | WGL4 | |||
V | sigma1 | ς is ς | ς is ς | Greek small letter final sigma | WGL4 | |||
s | sigma | σ is σ | σ is σ | Greek small letter sigma | WGL4 | |||
t | tau | τ is τ | τ is τ | Greek small letter tau | WGL4 | |||
u | upsilon | υ is υ | υ is υ | Greek small letter upsilon | WGL4 | |||
f | phi | φ is φ | φ is φ | Greek small letter phi | WGL4 | |||
c | chi | χ is χ | χ is χ | Greek small letter chi | WGL4 | |||
y | psi | ψ is ψ | ψ is ψ | Greek small letter psi | WGL4 | |||
w | omega | ω is ω | ω is ω | Greek small letter omega | WGL4 | |||
J | theta1 | ϑ is ϑ | ϑ is ϑ | Greek theta symbol | - | |||
j | phi1 | - | ϕ is ϕ | Greek phi symbol | - | |||
v | omega1 | ϖ is ϖ | ϖ is ϖ | Greek pi symbol | - | |||
¡ | Upsilon1 | ϒ is ϒ | ϒ is ϒ | Greek upsilon with hook symbol | - |
General Punctuation : Unicode U+2000 – U+206F (8192–8303)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | ¢ | minute | ′ is ′ | ′ is ′ | Prime | WGL4 | |
¤ | fraction | ⁄ is ⁄ | ⁄ is ⁄ | Fraction slash | WGL4 | |||
² | second | ″ is ″ | ″ is ″ | Double prime | WGL4 | |||
¼ | ellipsis | … is … | … is … | Horizontal ellipsis | WGL4 |
Letterlike Symbols : Unicode U+2100 – U+214F (8448–8527)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | À | aleph | ℵ is ℵ | ℵ is ℵ | Alef symbol | - | |
Á | Ifraktur | ℑ is ℑ | ℑ is ℑ | Black-letter capital I | - | |||
 | Rfraktur | ℜ is ℜ | ℜ is ℜ | Black-letter capital R | - | |||
à | weierstrass | ℘ is ℘ | ℘ is ℘ | Script capital P | - | |||
Ô | trademarkserif | ™ is ™ | ™ is ™ | Trade mark sign (serif) | WGL4 | |||
ä | trademarksans | ™ is ™ | ™ is ™ | Trade mark sign (sans-serif) | WGL4 |
Currency Symbols : Unicode U+20A0 – U+20CF (8352–8399)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | ð | Euro | € is € | € is € | Euro sign | WGL4 |
Arrows : Unicode U+2190 – U+21FF (8592–8703)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | « | arrowboth | ↔ is ↔ | ↔ is ↔ | Left right arrow | WGL4 | |
¬ | arrowleft | ← is ← | ← is ← | Leftwards arrow | WGL4 | |||
| arrowup | ↑ is ↑ | ↑ is ↑ | Upwards arrow | WGL4 | |||
® | arrowright | → is → | → is → | Rightwards arrow | WGL4 | |||
¯ | arrowdown | ↓ is ↓ | ↓ is ↓ | Downwards arrow | WGL4 | |||
¿ | carriagereturn | ↵ is ↵ | ↵ is ↵ | Downwards arrow with corner leftwards | - | |||
Û | arrowdblboth | ⇔ is ⇔ | ⇔ is ⇔ | Left right double arrow | - | |||
Ü | arrowdblleft | ⇐ is ⇐ | ⇐ is ⇐ | Leftwards double arrow | - | |||
Ý | arrowdblup | ⇑ is ⇑ | ⇑ is ⇑ | Upwards double arrow | - | |||
Þ | arrowdblright | ⇒ is ⇒ | ⇒ is ⇒ | Rightwards double arrow | - | |||
ß | arrowdbldown | ⇓ is ⇓ | ⇓ is ⇓ | Downwards double arrow | - |
Mathematical Operators : Unicode U+2200 – U+22FF (8704–8959)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | ' | universal | ∀ is ∀ | ∀ is ∀ | For all | - | |
$ | existential | ∃ is ∃ | ∃ is ∃ | There exists | - | |||
' | suchthat | - | ∍ is ∍ | Small contains as member | - | |||
* | asteriskmath | ∗ is ∗ | ∗ is ∗ | Asterisk operator | - | |||
- | minus | − is − | − is − | Minus sign | WGL4 | |||
@ | congruent | ≅ is ≅ | ≅ is ≅ | Approximately equal to | - | |||
therefore | ∴ is ∴ | ∴ is ∴ | Therefore | - | ||||
^ | perpendicular | ⊥ is ⊥ | ⊥ is ⊥ | Up tack | - | |||
~ | similar | ∼ is ∼ | ∼ is ∼ | Tilde operator | - | |||
£ | lessequal | ≤ is ≤ | ≤ is ≤ | Less-than or equal to | WGL4 | |||
¥ | infinity | ∞ is ∞ | ∞ is ∞ | Infinity | WGL4 | |||
³ | greaterequal | ≥ is ≥ | ≥ is ≥ | Greater-than or equal to | WGL4 | |||
µ | proportional | ∝ is ∝ | ∝ is ∝ | Proportional to | - | |||
¶ | partialdiff | ∂ is ∂ | ∂ is ∂ | Partial differential | WGL4 | |||
· | bullet | • is • | • is • | Bullet | - | |||
¹ | notequal | ≠ is ≠ | ≠ is ≠ | Not equal to | WGL4 | |||
º | equivalence | ≡ is ≡ | ≡ is ≡ | Identical to | WGL4 | |||
» | approxequal | ≈ is ≈ | ≈ is ≈ | Almost equal to | WGL4 | |||
Ä | circlemultiply | ⊗ is ⊗ | ⊗ is ⊗ | Circled times | - | |||
Å | circleplus | ⊕ is ⊕ | ⊕ is ⊕ | Circled plus | - | |||
Æ | emptyset | ∅ is ∅ | ∅ is ∅ | Empty set | - | |||
Ç | intersection | ∩ is ∩ | ∩ is ∩ | Intersection | WGL4 | |||
È | union | ∪ is ∪ | ∪ is ∪ | Union | - | |||
É | propersuperset | ⊃ is ⊃ | ⊃ is ⊃ | Superset of | - | |||
Ê | reflexsuperset | ⊇ is ⊇ | ⊇ is ⊇ | Superset of or equal to | - | |||
Ë | notsubset | ⊄ is ⊄ | ⊄ is ⊄ | Not a subset of | - | |||
Ì | propersubset | ⊂ is ⊂ | ⊂ is ⊂ | Subset of | - | |||
Í | reflexsubset | ⊆ is ⊆ | ⊆ is ⊆ | Subset of or equal to | - | |||
Î | element | ∈ is ∈ | ∈ is ∈ | Element of | - | |||
Ï | notelement | ∉ is ∉ | ∉ is ∉ | Not an element of | - | |||
Ð | angle | ∠ is ∠ | ∠ is ∠ | Angle | - | |||
Ñ | gradient | ∇ is ∇ | ∇ is ∇ | Nabla | - | |||
Õ | product | ∏ is ∏ | ∏ is ∏ | N-ary product | WGL4 | |||
Ö | radical | √ is √ | √ is √ | Square root | WGL4 | |||
× | dotmath | ⋅ is ⋅ | ⋅ is ⋅ | Dot operator | - | |||
Ù | logicaland | ∧ is ∧ | ∧ is ∧ | Logical and | - | |||
Ú | logicalor | ∨ is ∨ | ∨ is ∨ | Logical or | - | |||
å | summation | ∑ is ∑ | ∑ is ∑ | N-ary summation | WGL4 | |||
ò | integral | ∫ is ∫ | ∫ is ∫ | Integral | WGL4 |
Miscellaneous Technical : Unicode U+2300 – U+23FF (8960–9215)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | ½ | arrowvertex | - | ⏐ is ⏐ | Vertical line extension | - | |
¾ | arrowhorizex | - | ⎯ is ⎯ | Horizontal line extension | - | |||
á | angleleft | ⟨ is ⟨ | 〈 is 〈 | Left-pointing angle bracket | - | |||
æ | parenlefttp | - | ⎛ is ⎛ | Left parenthesis upper hook | - | |||
ç | parenleftex | - | ⎜ is ⎜ | Left parenthesis extension | - | |||
è | parenleftbt | - | ⎝ is ⎝ | Left parenthesis lower hook | - | |||
é | bracketlefttp | - | ⎡ is ⎡ | Left square bracket upper corner | - | |||
ê | bracketleftex | - | ⎢ is ⎢ | Left square bracket extension | - | |||
ë | bracketleftbt | - | ⎣ is ⎣ | Left square bracket lower corner | - | |||
ì | bracelefttp | - | ⎧ is ⎧ | Left curly bracket upper hook | - | |||
í | braceleftmid | - | ⎨ is ⎨ | Left curly bracket middle piece | - | |||
î | braceleftbt | - | ⎩ is ⎩ | Left curly bracket lower hook | - | |||
ï | braceex | - | ⎪ is ⎪ | Curly bracket extension | - | |||
ñ | angleright | ⟩ is ⟩ | 〉 is 〉 | Right-pointing angle bracket | - | |||
ó | integraltp | - | ⌠ is ⌠ | Top half integral | WGL4 | |||
ô | integralex | - | ⎮ is ⎮ | Integral extension | - | |||
õ | integralbt | - | ⌡ is ⌡ | Bottom half integral | WGL4 | |||
ö | parenrighttp | - | ⎞ is ⎞ | Right parenthesis upper hook | - | |||
÷ | parenrightex | - | ⎟ is ⎟ | Right parenthesis extension | - | |||
ø | parenrightbt | - | ⎠ is ⎠ | Right parenthesis lower hook | - | |||
ù | bracketrighttp | - | ⎤ is ⎤ | Right square bracket upper corner | - | |||
ú | bracketrightex | - | ⎥ is ⎥ | Right square bracket extension | - | |||
û | bracketrightbt | - | ⎦ is ⎦ | Right square bracket lower corner | - | |||
ü | bracerighttp | - | ⎫ is ⎫ | Right curly bracket upper hook | - | |||
ý | bracerightmid | - | ⎬ is ⎬ | Right curly bracket middle piece | - | |||
þ | bracerightbt | - | ⎭ is ⎭ | Right curly bracket lower hook | - |
Geometric Shapes : Unicode U+25A0 – U+25FF (9632–9727)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | à | lozenge | ◊ is ◊ | ◊ is ◊ | Lozenge | WGL4 |
Miscellaneous Symbols : Unicode U+2600 – U+26FF (9728–9983)
Symbol | Unicode | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Character | Character entity | § | club | ♣ is ♣ | ♣ is ♣ | Black club suit | WGL4 | |
¨ | diamond | ♦ is ♦ | ♦ is ♦ | Black diamond suit | WGL4 | |||
© | heart | ♥ is ♥ | ♥ is ♥ | Black heart suit | WGL4 | |||
ª | spade | ♠ is ♠ | ♠ is ♠ | Black spade suit | WGL4 |
Character with no Unicode equivalent
Character | ` | ||
---|---|---|---|
Alan Wood’s Web site |
Many tasks you perform in Excel involve comparing data in different cells. For this, Microsoft Excel provides six logical operators, which are also called comparison operators. This tutorial aims to help you understand the insight of Excel logical operators and write the most efficient formulas for your data analysis.
- Excel logical operators
Excel logical operators - overview
A logical operator is used in Excel to compare two values. Logical operators are sometimes called Boolean operators because the result of the comparison in any given case can only be either TRUE or FALSE.
Six logical operators are available in Excel. The following table explains what each of them does and illustrates the theory with formula examples.
Condition | Operator | Formula Example | Description |
Equal to | = | =A1=B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is equal to the values in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
Not equal to | <> | =A1<>B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is not equal to the value in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
Greater than | > | =A1>B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is greater than a value in cell B1; otherwise it returns FALSE. |
Less than | < | =A1<B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is less than in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
Greater than or equal to | >= | =A1>=B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is greater than or equal to the values in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
Less than or equal to | <= | =A1<=B1 | The formula returns TRUE if a value in cell A1 is less than or equal to the values in cell B1; FALSE otherwise. |
The screenshot below demonstrates the results returned by Equal to, Not equal to, Greater than and Less than logical operators:
It may seem that the above table covers it all and there's nothing more to talk about. But in fact, each logical operator has its own specificities and knowing them can help you harness the real power of Excel formulas.
Using 'Equal to' logical operator in Excel
The Equal to logical operator (=) can be used to compare all data types - numbers, dates, text values, Booleans, as well as the results returned by other Excel formulas. For example:
=A1=B1 | Returns TRUE if the values in cells A1 and B1 are the same, FALSE otherwise. |
=A1='oranges' | Returns TRUE if cells A1 contain the word 'oranges', FALSE otherwise. |
=A1=TRUE | Returns TRUE if cells A1 contain the Boolean value TRUE, otherwise it returns FALSE. |
=A1=(B1/2) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is equal to the quotient of the division of B1 by 2, FALSE otherwise. |
Example 1. Using the 'Equal to' operator with dates
You might be surprised to know that the Equal to logical operator cannot compare dates as easily as numbers. For example, if the cells A1 and A2 contain the date '12/1/2014', the formula
=A1=A2
will return TRUE exactly as it should.However, if you try either
=A1=12/1/2014
or =A1='12/1/2014'
you will get FALSE as the result. A bit unexpected, eh?The point is that Excel stores dates as numbers beginning with 1-Jan-1900, which is stored as 1. The date 12/1/2014 is stored as 41974. In the above formulas, Microsoft Excel interprets '12/1/2014' as a usual text string, and since '12/1/2014' is not equal to 41974, it returns FALSE.
To get the correct result, you must always wrap a date in the DATEVALUE function, like this
=A1=DATEVALUE('12/1/2014')
Note. The DATEVALUE function needs to be used with other logical operator as well, as demonstrated in the examples that follow.
The same approach should be applied when you use Excel's equal to operator in the logical test of the IF function. You can find more info as well as a few formula examples in this tutorial: Using Excel IF function with dates.
Example 2. Using the 'Equal to' operator with text values
Using Excel's Equal to operator with text values does not require any extra twists. The only thing you should keep in mind is that the Equal to logical operator in Excel is case-insensitive, meaning that case differences are ignored when comparing text values.
For example, if cell A1 contains the word 'oranges' and cell B1 contains 'Oranges', the formula
=A1=B1
will return TRUE.If you want to compare text values taking in to account their case differences, you should use the EXACT function instead of the Equal to operator. The syntax of the EXACT function is as simple as:
Where text 1 and text2 are the values you want to compare. If the values are exactly the same, including case, Excel returns TRUE; otherwise, it returns FALSE. You can also use the EXACT function in IF formulas when you need a case-sensitive comparison of text values, as shown in the below screenshot:
Note. If you want to compare the length of two text values, you can use the LEN function instead, for example
=LEN(A2)=LEN(B2)
or =LEN(A2)>=LEN(B2)
.Example 3. Comparing Boolean values and numbers
There is a widespread opinion that in Microsoft Excel the Boolean value of TRUE always equates to 1 and FALSE to 0. However, this is only partially true, and the key word here is 'always' or more precisely 'not always' : )
When writing an 'equal to' logical expression that compares a Boolean value and a number, you need to specifically point out for Excel that a non-numeric Boolean value should be treated as a number. You can do this by adding the double minus sign in front of a Boolean value or a cell reference, e. g.
=A2=--TRUE
or =A2=--B2
.The 1st minus sign, which is technically called the unary operator, coerces TRUE/FALSE to -1/0, respectively, and the second unary negates the values turning them into +1 and 0. This will probably be easier to understand looking at the following screenshot:
Note. You should add the double unary operator before a Boolean when using other logical operators such as not equal to, greater than or less than to correctly compare a numeric and Boolean values.
When using logical operators in complex formulas, you might also need to add the double unary before each logical expression that returns TRUE or FALSE as the result. Here's an example of such a formula: SUMPRODUCT and SUMIFS in Excel.
Using 'Not equal to' logical operator in Excel
You use Excel's Not equal to operator (<>) when you want to make sure that a cell's value is not equal to a specified value. The use of the Not equal to operator is very similar to the use of Equal to that we discussed a moment ago.
The results returned by the Not equal to operator are analogous to the results produced by the Excel NOT function that reverses the value of its argument. The following table provides a few formula examples.
Not equal to operator | NOT function | Description |
=A1<>B1 | =NOT(A1=B1) | Returns TRUE if the values in cells A1 and B1 are not the same, FALSE otherwise. |
=A1<>'oranges' | =NOT(A1='oranges') | Returns TRUE if cell A1 contains any value other than 'oranges', FALSE if it contains 'oranges' or 'ORANGES' or 'Oranges', etc. |
=A1<>TRUE | =NOT(A1=TRUE) | Returns TRUE if cell A1 contains any value other than TRUE, FALSE otherwise. |
=A1<>(B1/2) | =NOT(A1=B1/2) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is not equal to the quotient of the division of B1 by 2, FALSE otherwise. |
=A1<>DATEVALUE('12/1/2014') | =NOT(A1=DATEVALUE('12/1/2014')) | Returns TRUE if A1 contains any value other than the date of 1-Dec-2014, regardless of the date format, FALSE otherwise. |
Greater than, Less than, Greater than or equal to, Less than or equal to
You use these logical operators in Excel to check how one number compares to another. Microsoft Excel provides 4 comparison operates whose names are self-explanatory:
- Greater than (>)
- Greater than or equal to (>=)
- Less than (<)
- Less than or equal to (<=)
Most often, Excel comparison operators are used with numbers, date and time values. For example:
=A1>20 | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is greater than 20, FALSE otherwise. |
=A1>=(B1/2) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is greater than or equal to the quotient of the division of B1 by 2, FALSE otherwise. |
=A1<DATEVALUE('12/1/2014') | Returns TRUE if a date in cell A1 is less than 1-Dec-2014, FALSE otherwise. |
=A1<=SUM(B1:D1) | Returns TRUE if a number in cell A1 is less than or equal to the sum of values in cells B1:D1, FALSE otherwise. |
In Sheets How To Fill A Cell Based Upon A ...
Using Excel comparison operators with text values
In theory, you can also use the greater than, greater than or equal to operators as well as their less than counterparts with text values. For example, if cell A1 contains 'apples' and B1 contains 'bananas', guess what the formula
=A1>B1
will return? Congratulations to those who've staked on FALSE : )When comparing text values, Microsoft Excel ignores their case and compares the values symbol by symbol, 'a' being considered the lowest text value and 'z' - the highest text value.
So, when comparing the values of 'apples' (A1) and 'bananas' (B1), Excel starts with their first letters 'a' and 'b', respectively, and since 'b' is greater than 'a', the formula
=A1>B1
returns FALSE.If the first letters are the same, then the 2nd letters are compared, if they happen to be identical too, then Excel gets to the 3rd, 4th letters and so on. For example, if A1 contained 'apples' and B1 contained 'agave', the formula
=A1>B1
would return TRUE because 'p' is greater than 'g'.At first sight, the use of comparison operators with text values seems to have very little practical sense, but you never know what you might need in the future, so probably this knowledge will prove helpful to someone.
Word For Mac Symbol Greater Than Or Equal To Grams
Common uses of logical operators in Excel
In real work, Excel logical operators are rarely used on their own. Agree, the Boolean values TRUE and FALSE they return, though very true (excuse the pun), are not very meaningful. To get more sensible results, you can use logical operators as part of Excel functions or conditional formatting rules, as demonstrated in the below examples.
1. Using logical operators in arguments of Excel functions
When it comes to logical operators, Excel is very permissive and allows using them in parameters of many functions. One of the most common uses is found in Excel IF function where the comparison operators can help to construct a logical test, and the IF formula will return an appropriate result depending on whether the test evaluates to TRUE or FALSE. For example:
=IF(A1>=B1, 'OK', 'Not OK')
This simple IF formula returns OK if a value in cell A1 is greater than or equal to a value in cell B1, 'Not OK' otherwise.
And here's another example:
=IF(A1<>B1, SUM(A1:C1), ')
The formula compares the values in cells A1 and B1, and if A1 is not equal to B1, the sum of values in cells A1:C1 is returned, an empty string otherwise.
Excel logical operators are also widely used in special IF functions such as SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF and their plural counterparts that return a result based on a certain condition or multiple conditions.
You can find a wealth of formula examples in the following tutorials:
How To Type A Greater Than Or Equal To Sign In Microsoft Word ...
2. Using Excel logical operators in mathematical calculations
Of course, Excel functions are very powerful, but you don't always have to use them to achieve the desired result. For example, the results returned by the following two formulas are identical:
IF function:
=IF(B2>C2, B2*10, B2*5)
Formula with logical operators:
=(B2>C2)*(B2*10)+(B2<=C2)*(B2*5)
I guess the IF formula is easier to interpret, right? It tells Excel to multiply a value in cell B2 by 10 if B2 is greater than C2, otherwise the value in B1 is multiplied by 5.
Now, let's analyze what the 2nd formula with the greater than and less than or equal to logical operators does. It helps to know that in mathematical calculations Excel does equate the Boolean value TRUE to 1, and FALSE to 0. Keeping this in mind, let's see what each of the logical expressions actually returns.
If a value in cell B2 is greater than a value in C2, then the expression B2>C2 is TRUE, and consequently equal to 1. On the other hand, B2<=C2 is FALSE and equal to 0. So, given that B2>C2, our formula undergoes the following transformation:
Since any number multiplied by zero gives zero, we can cast away the second part of the formula after the plus sign. And because any number multiplied by 1 is that number, our complex formula turns into a simple =B2*10 that returns the product of multiplying B2 by 10, which is exactly what the above IF formula does : )
Obviously, if a value in cell B2 is less than in C2, then the expression B2>C2 evaluates to FALSE (0) and B2<=C2 to TRUE (1), meaning that the reverse of the described above will occur.
3. Logical operators in Excel conditional formatting
Another common use of logical operators is found in Excel Conditional Formatting that lets you quickly highlight the most important information in a spreadsheet.
For example, the following simple rules highlight selected cells or entire rows in your worksheet depending on a value in column A:
Less than (orange):
=A1<5
Macbook Air Types In Symbols
Greater than (green):
=A1>20
For the detailed-step-by-step instructions and rule examples, please see the following articles:
Using Greater Than Or Less Than In Cells
As you see, the use of logical operators in Excel is intuitive and easy. In the next article, we are going to learn the nuts and bolts of Excel logical functions that allow performing more than one comparison in a formula. Please stay tuned and thank you for reading!