How to use operators in formulas

Abstract

Excel formulas can contain a variety of operators.

Operators tell Excel what mathematical function to perform, or what logical expression to evaluate.

You’ll often combine multiple operators in a single formula.

Let’s take a look.

Here we have a list of operators, their names, and a sample formula for each.

So, G6 + I7 is 28, and G6 - I7 equals 14.

For multiplication, use an asterisk: H10 * I7 is 21.

The operator for division is the forward slash: I7 / G13 is 3.5.

With any of these operators, you could add extra space for readability, if you like.

For exponents, use the caret: I7 squared is entered as I7, caret, and 2.

Concatenation is an operation that joins things together.

The operator for concatenation is the ampersand.

In most cases, you’d probably also add a space.

The space is literal text and needs to be enclosed in double quotes.

The next six operators are logical comparison operators.

This means that they evaluate a condition, and return either TRUE or FALSE.

For example, the formula =G6 = I7 returns FALSE.

In the next two examples, =G6 > I7 returns TRUE, and =H10 < G13 returns FALSE.

The parentheses, in this case, are just for readability.

To test for inequality, use the “less than” and “greater than” operators together.

This formula is read as “G13 is not equal to H10.”