What does the NOT function do?
This function performs negation of the input logical value.
It can also be said differently - the function checks the truth value of an expression. If the input value or calculation is false, the function result is TRUE, and vice versa.
NOT function syntax
=NOT(Logical)| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value | NOT |
| 2 | TRUE | FALSE=NOT(A2) |
| 3 | FALSE | TRUE=NOT(A3) |
| 4 | 5 | FALSE=NOT(A4) |
| 5 | 0 | TRUE=NOT(A5) |
| 6 | "TRUE" (text) | FALSE=NOT("TRUE") |
| 7 | apple | #VALUE!=NOT(A7) |
| 8 | (empty) | TRUE=NOT(A8) |
Numbers: 0 is FALSE, anything else is TRUE. Text typed into the formula as "TRUE" or "FALSE" is understood; other text gives #VALUE!. An empty cell counts as 0, so NOT returns TRUE.
NOT: result and input format
Requirements for input values are similar to the AND and OR functions.
The difference may be in the result format - AND and OR return a single value. Negation with the NOT function is performed with each of its elements and returns a similar array.
Any numbers other than zero are interpreted as TRUE, zero - as FALSE.
Any text values, except "FALSE", "TRUE" in text format, return a #VALUE! error.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value | Not empty | Not text | Not between 10 and 20 |
| 2 | 15 | TRUE=NOT(ISBLANK(A2)) | TRUE=NOT(ISTEXT(A2)) | FALSE=NOT(AND(A2>=10,A2<=20)) |
| 3 | FALSE=NOT(ISBLANK(A3)) | TRUE=NOT(ISTEXT(A3)) | TRUE=NOT(AND(A3>=10,A3<=20)) | |
| 4 | apple | TRUE=NOT(ISBLANK(A4)) | FALSE=NOT(ISTEXT(A4)) | TRUE=NOT(AND(A4>=10,A4<=20)) |
| 5 | 25 | TRUE=NOT(ISBLANK(A5)) | TRUE=NOT(ISTEXT(A5)) | TRUE=NOT(AND(A5>=10,A5<=20)) |
NOT turns any check into its opposite: not empty, not text, outside a range. Text compared with numbers counts as greater, so “apple” is “not between 10 and 20”.
Other logical functions
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