The less-than-or-equal-to operator in Excel is <=, typed as two characters with the angle bracket first. Use it directly to compare two cells: =A1<=B1 returns TRUE when A1 is smaller than or equal to B1, and FALSE otherwise. On its own, < tests less than only, so =3<=4 and =3<4 both return TRUE, while =4<=3 returns FALSE.
For a readable result instead of TRUE/FALSE, wrap it in IF: =IF(A1<=B1,"Within budget","Over"). Inside functions that take criteria, the operator goes in double quotes and joins to a cell reference with &: =COUNTIF(A1:A10,"<=50") counts values of 50 or less, and =SUMIF(A1:A10,"<="&C1,B1:B10) sums against whatever is in C1.
That criteria form is where most people actually need it — in COUNTIF, COUNTIFS, SUMIF, SUMIFS, and AVERAGEIF. The operators work on dates and text too: dates compare as numbers, and text compares alphabetically without regard to case.
In Excel, you can use the less than equal to operator for a logical test (test a condition). You can combine the less than and equal to sign for this. In this tutorial, we will learn to use it in a formula.
Write a Formula using Less Than or Equal To
- Enter an equal sign to start the formula.
- Refer to the first cell where you have the values to test.
- Type the less than and equal to (<=) using your keyboard.
- Refer to the second cell where you have the value to test with.
- Hit enter to get the result.
When you use the less than and equal to operator, you need to refer to the cell or enter the value you want to test, then the <= operator and the value or the cell with which you want to test it.
In the example, we have 3 to compare with the value 4 to check if it is less than or equal to. It returns TRUE in the result as 3 is lower than 4.
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And you can also use less than the operator as well. You can only test if the values are lower than the others. And by using the same example, you can write a single formula.
We have the same result here (TRUE), as 3 is a lower value than 4.
Written by
Puneet Gogia
Microsoft MVP — Excel · Founder, Excel Champs
Twelve years of teaching Excel, and a decade before that using it as a data analyst. Every tutorial here is written from a file I actually built.