OR

What it does

OR(logical1, [logical2], ...)

OR(logical1, [logical2], …) returns TRUE if at least one considered value is true, otherwise FALSE. It accepts up to 255 arguments. Numeric zero is false; other numeric values are true.

=OR(FALSE,2>1) returns TRUE. An array or range is scanned as a collection of values and the result is one logical value, rather than a separate result for every position.

Try it

Try =OR(FALSE,2>1), =OR(0,0) and =OR({0;1;0}). A range example needs actual input cells: enter B2 and B3 in the input-cell editor, then calculate =OR(B2:B3).

Quirks

Microsoft documents that text and empty cells in a referenced range or array are ignored. If there is no logical or numeric value to consider, OR returns #VALUE!. An all-ignored scan is different from considering one or more false values.

Do not assume OR is a programming-language short-circuit operator. A true value does not by itself establish that an error or an expensive expression elsewhere in the call is skipped. Text supplied directly as an argument also needs its own coercion checks; the rule about text in a range is not a universal rule about text.

How to implement

Track both an accumulated truth value and whether any eligible item has been seen. Classify direct arguments and referenced or array-contained values according to their distinct coercion rules. Fold eligible values into the accumulator, preserving the required error behaviour. After a successful scan, return #VALUE! if none were eligible, otherwise return the logical accumulator.

Share the item classifier with AND and XOR so that blank, text and error policies cannot drift. A fast exit on TRUE is valid only if it preserves argument evaluation and error ordering for the target Excel build. Test that separately from the truth table.

Rust code

logicals(OR, "OR", 255, or)

/// OR: TRUE when a logical read is TRUE, FALSE when every one is FALSE.
fn or(
    arguments: &[CalcValue],
    services: &mut EvalServices<'_>,
) -> Result<CalcValue, FunctionFault> {
    decide(OR, arguments, services, |tally| tally.trues > 0)
}

No implementation has been published with a Handbook test suite for this function.

Version differences

The recorded environments below distinguish a reading from a same-input comparison. Counts describe captured inputs in each environment; overlapping captures and comparisons are not totals of unique worksheet calls.

The record contains no same-input comparison between these environments. Reading different inputs on different builds does not establish either a version change or cross-build agreement.

Recorded environments and comparison details.

Alternatives

AND requires every considered value to be true. XOR tests whether an odd number are true. Use IF to select between calculations. For elementwise logic in an array, ordinary comparisons or MAP may express the intended shape more directly.

Named variants

No named variants are recorded yet.