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We all know the trusty IF function in Excel, right? It’s like the “choose your own adventure” of formulas! But what if you need to check more than just one condition? That’s where nested IFs come in. You can think of it as stacking multiple IF functions inside each other to handle different outcomes depending on multiple conditions. This is super useful when you need to categorize data or handle more complex logic.

Syntax

Here’s the syntax for a nested IF function. It’s essentially multiple IF functions combined:

• condition1: The first condition you want to check.
• value_if_true1: What happens if the first condition is true.
• condition2: The second condition to check if the first is false.
• value_if_true2: What happens if the second condition is true.
• value_if_false: What happens if none of the conditions are met.

Example

Let’s say you’re grading a test and want to assign letter grades based on the score. A score of 90 or above gets an "A", 80-89 gets a "B", 70-79 gets a "C", and anything below 70 gets a "Fail".

In this example, the nested IF function is used to evaluate the score and assign a grade based on the range it falls into.

Practice Exercise 1

Task: You have a list of employees and their sales figures for the month. Based on their sales, assign them a performance level:

• If sales are above $10,000, they’re "Excellent".
• Between $5,000 and $10,000, they’re "Good".
• Less than $5,000, they’re "Needs Improvement".

Hint: Use a nested IF function to categorize each employee's sales performance based on the criteria provided.

Practice Exercise 2

Task: You manage a project team, and you’re tracking task deadlines. You need to flag tasks based on how close they are to their deadlines:

• If the task is due within 3 days, mark it as "Urgent".
• If the task is due within 7 days, mark it as "Upcoming".
• If it’s due in more than 7 days, mark it as "On Track".

Hint: Use the TODAY() function to calculate the number of days left until the due date and a nested IF function to assign the appropriate status.

Solution to Exercise 1

Categorizing employees' sales performance:

=IF(B2>10000, "Excellent", IF(B2>=5000, "Good", "Needs Improvement"))
=IF(B3>10000, "Excellent", IF(B3>=5000, "Good", "Needs Improvement"))
=IF(B4>10000, "Excellent", IF(B4>=5000, "Good", "Needs Improvement"))

Solution to Exercise 2

Tracking task deadlines and assigning status:

=B2-TODAY()
=B3-TODAY()
=B4-TODAY()

=IF(C2<=3, "Urgent", IF(C2<=7, "Upcoming", "On Track"))
=IF(C3<=3, "Urgent", IF(C3<=7, "Upcoming", "On Track"))
=IF(C4<=3, "Urgent", IF(C4<=7, "Upcoming", "On Track"))

The IF function is already a powerhouse, but nesting it allows for complex, multi-level decision-making. Whether you're categorizing performance or flagging urgent tasks, mastering nested IFs will give you an edge in Excel!