How to Create Inequalities in Microsoft Excel

What You Need to Know About Inequalities in Excel

Inequalities in Excel are comparisons. You compare one value against another and get a TRUE or FALSE result. That's it. No magic, no complexity. Just logic.

Most people use inequalities without realizing it—when you filter data above a certain value, when you create conditional rules, when you build any kind of decision-making formula. Here's how to actually use them.

The Six Inequality Operators

Excel has six comparison operators. Learn these first, because everything else depends on them.

> — Greater than
< — Less than
>= — Greater than or equal to
<= — Less than or equal to
= — Equal to
<> — Not equal to

These work in formulas, filters, and conditional formatting. They always return TRUE or FALSE.

Basic Inequality Formulas

Type a formula that compares two values. Start with =, then use the operator.

Example: =A1>100

This checks if the value in cell A1 is greater than 100. If it is, you get TRUE. If not, you get FALSE.

You can compare:

Cell to cell: =A1>B1
Cell to number: =A1>=50
Text to text: =A1="Complete"
Mixed: =A1<>B1 (checks if they're different)

Using Inequalities with IF Statements

Inequalities become useful when combined with IF. The syntax is:

=IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)

Example: =IF(A1>=1000, "High", "Low")

This checks if A1 is 1000 or more. If yes, it returns "High". If no, it returns "Low".

You can nest multiple conditions:

=IF(A1>=1000, "High", IF(A1>=500, "Medium", "Low"))

Three tiers. Clean. No need to overcomplicate it.

Counting and Summing with Inequalities

COUNTIF and SUMIF let you count or total cells based on conditions.

COUNTIF Examples

=COUNTIF(A:A, ">100") — counts cells greater than 100
=COUNTIF(A:A, "<50") — counts cells less than 50
=COUNTIF(A:A, ">=500") — counts cells 500 or more
=COUNTIF(A:A, "<>0") — counts cells that aren't zero

SUMIF Examples

=SUMIF(A:A, ">100", B:B) — sums values in column B where column A is greater than 100
=SUMIF(A:A, "<0", B:B) — sums where column A is negative

COUNTIFS and SUMIFS for Multiple Conditions

Add more criteria with COUNTIFS or SUMIFS:

=COUNTIFS(A:A, ">100", A:A, "<500")

Counts cells between 100 and 500.

Conditional Formatting with Inequalities

Highlight cells based on their values. This is where inequalities save you time.

Select your range of cells
Go to Home → Conditional Formatting → New Rule
Choose Format cells that contain
Set your condition (e.g., "Cell Value > 100")
Pick your formatting
Click OK

You can also use formulas in conditional formatting for more control:

=$A1>100

This applies the format to any row where column A exceeds 100.

Filtering Data with Inequalities

Excel's filter function uses inequalities behind the scenes, but you can set custom criteria:

Select your data range
Go to Data → Advanced (not just Filter)
Use criteria range with your inequality conditions

This is useful for extracting records that meet specific thresholds.

Quick Reference Table

Operator	Formula Example	Returns TRUE when
>	=A1>100	A1 is greater than 100
<	=A1<50	A1 is less than 50
>=	=A1>=100	A1 is 100 or more
<=	=A1<=50	A1 is 50 or less
=	=A1=100	A1 equals exactly 100
<>	=A1<>100	A1 is not 100

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Text in quotes, numbers not — >100 not >"100"
Forgetting the equals sign — formulas start with =
Using <> instead of != — Excel uses <> for "not equal"
Mismatched data types — comparing text to numbers gives FALSE, not an error

Getting Started

Try this exercise:

Open a blank spreadsheet
Put numbers in cells A1 through A10
In cell B1, type: =IF(A1>50, "High", "Low")
Copy B1 down to B10

You now have a simple classifier. Change the numbers in column A and column B updates automatically.

That's the foundation. From here, you can build COUNTIF formulas, conditional formatting rules, or complex nested IF statements. The operators don't change—only how you combine them.