Syntax, a live playground, a measured truth table and coercion gallery, the eager-evaluation trap, and a sourced error library: inverts a logical value.
Inverts a logical value: TRUE becomes FALSE, FALSE becomes TRUE. It returns a single logical value, so it is usually combined with IF to branch to a result.
NOT flips a logical value: TRUE becomes FALSE and vice versa. The tables below were measured live in the HyperFormula engine. Click any truth-table row to load it into the live playground.
| A | NOT(A) |
|---|---|
| TRUE | FALSE |
| FALSE | TRUE |
Numbers, text and blanks do not all behave the same. Every value below was measured in the engine.
| Input | NOT result | Why |
|---|---|---|
| =NOT(0) | TRUE | Zero → FALSE, inverted to TRUE |
| =NOT(2) | FALSE | Non-zero → TRUE, inverted to FALSE |
| =NOT("TRUE") | FALSE | Text "TRUE" coerces then inverts → FALSE |
| =NOT(E2) (blank cell) | TRUE | Blank reads FALSE, inverted → TRUE |
| =NOT(NOT(TRUE)) | TRUE | Double negation returns the original |
IF is different: it is lazy.| Input | Result | Why |
|---|---|---|
| =NOT(1/0) | #DIV/0! | NOT evaluates its argument first; the error wins |
| =IF(FALSE,1/0,5) | 5 | IF is lazy: it never touches the untaken branch |
| =IFERROR(NOT(1/0),"safe") | safe | Wrap the whole thing to absorb the error |
NOT distributes over AND/OR by flipping the operator. These equivalences let you rewrite any negated condition.
| Negated form | Equivalent | Both give |
|---|---|---|
| =NOT(AND(A2>=60,B2>=90)) | =OR(NOT(A2>=60),NOT(B2>=90)) | FALSE |
| =NOT(OR(A2>=90,B2>=90)) | =AND(NOT(A2>=90),NOT(B2>=90)) | FALSE |
NOT(ISBLANK(A2)) is TRUE when A2 has a value; NOT(ISERROR(x)) keeps only clean results. Double negation NOT(NOT(x)) returns x.Edit the table or type any formula — the HyperFormula engine evaluates it instantly. Load a preset to see NOT return TRUE/FALSE, coerce numbers and text, and hit the eager-evaluation trap in real time.
8 failure patterns mined from actual user reports on Reddit, Stack Overflow and Super User — each with the authentic symptom, root cause, a fix, and a runnable formula. Not textbook theory.
NOT is available across modern Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice. It has been in Excel since 2003, so every platform below supports it.
| Platform | Support | Notes | Gotcha |
|---|
NOT is the inverter. The full course walks the logical toolkit end to end — AND/OR/XOR/NOT, De Morgan’s laws, and guard patterns like NOT(ISBLANK()).