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EXCEL FUNCTIONS-IFERROR

INTRODUCTION

IFERROR function comes under the LOGICAL FUNCTIONS category in Excel.

IFERROR is again a very useful function in excel which will be used a lot.

IFERROR is kind of error management system for the formulas and functions which we use in Excel. In programming we have a totally separate class for catching the errors. So we can compare the function to that ERROR CLASS.

Suppose, we have a function which can have some undefined state, which, if not managed would result in an error and ruin our EXCEL APPLICATION. There are a few options to manage this situation. Either we need to enlist all such conditions and save our application from those conditions by introducing more complex functions or we can make the use of this great function.

IFERROR returns the value of the formula if there is no error and other value if there is error.

In this article we’ll learn how IFERROR FUNCTION works , its syntax and a practical example.

PURPOSE OF IFERROR IN EXCEL

IFERROR FUNCTION RETURNS THE VALUE OF THE FORMULA (IF IT GETS EVALUATED PROPERLY), OTHERWISE IT RETURNS THE SPECIFIED VALUE OR MESSAGE.

It is used to handle our functions which can return an error. e.g.

IFERROR( function evaluated, if function returns an error)

PREREQUISITES TO LEARN IFERROR

THERE ARE A FEW PREREQUISITES WHICH WILL ENABLE YOU TO UNDERSTAND THIS FUNCTION IN A BETTER WAY.

Basic understanding of how to use a formula or function.
Basic understanding of rows and columns in Excel.
Of course, Excel software.

Helpful links for the prerequisites mentioned above

What Excel does? How to use formula in Excel?

SYNTAX: IFERROR FUNCTION

The Syntax for the function is

=IFERROR(VALUE, VALUE IF ERROR)

VALUE= VALUE IF FORMULA EVALUATES PROPERLY

VALUE IF ERROR= VALUE IF FORMULA GENERATES ANY ERROR

Few types of error being acted upon by the function are

#N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME?, or #NULL!.

EXAMPLE:IFERROR FUNCTION IN EXCEL

DATA SAMPLE

The simplest example can be a division by zero.

Suppose there are two numbers

A=50

AND

B=0

We’ll be trying to evaluate A/B and if error occurs we’ll display a message “DIVISION BY ZERO”.

STEPS TO USE IFERROR

We have A and B with values 50 and 0.
We will evaluate A/B and put error message as “DIVISION BY ZERO”.
The formula to be used is
=IFERROR(G7/G8,”DIVISION BY ZERO”)
The output is shown in the picture.
The function evaluates A/B and finds the error DIV BY 0 and results in the message.

KNOWLEDGE BYTES

NESTED IFerror

IFERROR can be used anywhere , where there are situations of generating errors.

Simply put the formula in the first condition and error message or value in the second one.

Standard way of catching an error

=IFERROR(ANY FORMULA, ANY VALUE OR MESSAGE).

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