NOT

Logicalbeginner

NOT flips a boolean. It's the logical negation operator, most commonly used inside IF, COUNTIF patterns, or FILTER to find rows that do not match a condition. Think of it as the word 'not' in a sentence: show me everything that is not paid.

Syntax

Excel:=NOT(logical)
Google Sheets: =NOT(logical)

Parameters

logicalA value or expression that evaluates to TRUE or FALSE.

? = optional parameter

Worked Example

Check if an invoice is NOT from the Engineering department.

Row numbersF
Header rowdepartmentF2="Engineering"NOT(F2="Engineering")
2SalesFALSETRUE

Formula

=NOT(A2="Engineering")

Result

TRUE

NOT checks whether A2 equals 'Engineering' and then flips that result. In this sample, A2 contains 'Sales', so A2="Engineering" is FALSE and NOT returns TRUE.

Practice Exercises

2 exercises - work through each one using the data table below

Exercise 1 of 2beginner
#NOT-001

Question

Write a formula that returns TRUE if an invoice is NOT in 'Paid' status. What's the result for INV-1006 (status: Pending)?

Dataset

Showing rows 1-10

Download CSV
Row numbersAB
Header row
2INV-1001Paid
3INV-1002Paid
4INV-1003Paid
5INV-1004Paid
6INV-1005Paid
7INV-1006Pending
8INV-1007Paid
9INV-1008Overdue
10INV-1009Paid
11INV-1010Paid
12

Scroll to explore the table, then sort or filter by column as needed.

Hints

Your Answer

Exercise 2 of 2intermediate
#NOT-002

Question

Count how many invoices are NOT in the 'Software' or 'Consulting' categories. (i.e., everything else.)

Dataset

Vendor Spend Tracker (150 rows total)

Download CSV
Row numbersAB
Header row
2INV-1001Software
3INV-1002Office Supplies
4INV-1003Consulting
5INV-1004Travel
6INV-1005Marketing
7INV-1006Software
8INV-1007Hardware
9INV-1008Software
10INV-1009Marketing
11INV-1010Consulting
12INV-1011Software
13INV-1012Marketing
14INV-1013Office Supplies
15INV-1014Software
16INV-1015Travel
17INV-1016Software
18INV-1017Office Supplies
19INV-1018Consulting
20INV-1019Software
21INV-1020Hardware
22INV-1021Travel
23INV-1022Hardware
24INV-1023Hardware
25INV-1024Office Supplies
26INV-1025Marketing
27INV-1026Software
28INV-1027Software
29INV-1028Marketing
30INV-1029Marketing
31INV-1030Software
32INV-1031Marketing
33INV-1032Software
34INV-1033Software
35INV-1034Travel
36INV-1035Software
37INV-1036Software
38INV-1037Software
39INV-1038Software
40INV-1039Software
41INV-1040Office Supplies
42INV-1041Consulting
43INV-1042Software
44INV-1043Marketing
45INV-1044Software
46INV-1045Travel
47INV-1046Software
48INV-1047Office Supplies
49INV-1048Office Supplies
50INV-1049Consulting
51INV-1050Software
52INV-1051Software
53INV-1052Consulting
54INV-1053Software
55INV-1054Software
56INV-1055Marketing
57INV-1056Software
58INV-1057Software
59INV-1058Software
60INV-1059Marketing
61INV-1060Software
62INV-1061Hardware
63INV-1062Marketing
64INV-1063Travel
65INV-1064Travel
66INV-1065Software
67INV-1066Marketing
68INV-1067Software
69INV-1068Software
70INV-1069Software
71INV-1070Office Supplies
72INV-1071Marketing
73INV-1072Software
74INV-1073Consulting
75INV-1074Hardware
76INV-1075Software
77INV-1076Software
78INV-1077Travel
79INV-1078Consulting
80INV-1079Travel
81INV-1080Office Supplies
82INV-1081Consulting
83INV-1082Office Supplies
84INV-1083Software
85INV-1084Travel
86INV-1085Software
87INV-1086Software
88INV-1087Office Supplies
89INV-1088Consulting
90INV-1089Software
91INV-1090Travel
92INV-1091Marketing
93INV-1092Software
94INV-1093Software
95INV-1094Software
96INV-1095Marketing
97INV-1096Software
98INV-1097Marketing
99INV-1098Software
100INV-1099Travel
101INV-1100Travel
102INV-1101Marketing
103INV-1102Hardware
104INV-1103Software
105INV-1104Travel
106INV-1105Software
107INV-1106Consulting
108INV-1107Marketing
109INV-1108Marketing
110INV-1109Software
111INV-1110Software
112INV-1111Consulting
113INV-1112Software
114INV-1113Software
115INV-1114Travel
116INV-1115Software
117INV-1116Software
118INV-1117Software
119INV-1118Office Supplies
120INV-1119Software
121INV-1120Software
122INV-1121Travel
123INV-1122Marketing
124INV-1123Marketing
125INV-1124Software
126INV-1125Software
127INV-1126Travel
128INV-1127Software
129INV-1128Marketing
130INV-1129Software
131INV-1130Software
132INV-1131Consulting
133INV-1132Software
134INV-1133Travel
135INV-1134Software
136INV-1135Software
137INV-1136Office Supplies
138INV-1137Travel
139INV-1138Office Supplies
140INV-1139Consulting
141INV-1140Consulting
142INV-1141Software
143INV-1142Software
144INV-1143Office Supplies
145INV-1144Software
146INV-1145Office Supplies
147INV-1146Software
148INV-1147Consulting
149INV-1148Software
150INV-1149Office Supplies
151INV-1150Office Supplies
152

Scroll to explore the table, then sort or filter by column as needed.

Hints

Your Answer

Want more practice?

Test Me mode randomizes exercises across all formulas without telling you which formula to use.

Try Test Me ->