How to hide #N/A and other formula errors in Excel and Google Sheets

Topic:IF, IFS & nested conditions

Excel & Google Sheets

=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(D2, A:B, 2, FALSE), "Not found")

Try it with your data

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Sample data — click any cell to edit

Cell row 1 column 1	Cell row 1 column 2
Cell row 2 column 1	Cell row 2 column 2
Cell row 3 column 1	Cell row 3 column 2
Cell row 4 column 1	Cell row 4 column 2

Formula

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Step by step

1Wrap your existing formula in IFERROR( … , "value if error").
2The formula runs first; only if it errors does the fallback show.
3Use "" as the fallback to leave the cell blank instead of showing an error.

Tips

Use IFNA instead of IFERROR when you only want to catch #N/A and still see real errors like #REF!.
Hide errors only after you understand them — IFERROR can mask a genuine problem you should fix.

Need it for your exact data?

Describe your columns in plain English and get the precise formula for your sheet, with the right Excel or Sheets syntax.

Frequently asked

What is the difference between IFERROR and IFNA?

IFERROR catches every error type; IFNA catches only #N/A. IFNA is safer because it won’t hide a real #REF! or #VALUE! you need to know about.

More on IF, IFS & nested conditions

How to sum if a cell contains specific text

Use SUMIF with wildcard criteria (*text*) to sum values in a column whenever a related column contains a specific substring.

Fix Nested IF

Nested IF formulas not working in Excel and Google Sheets — fix bracket mismatches, wrong evaluation order, overlapping conditions, and the 64-nesting limit.

How to write a nested IF formula

Chain multiple IF functions inside each other to test several conditions and return different results for each scenario.

How to write an IF with multiple conditions

Combine IF with AND or OR to test multiple conditions simultaneously and return a result based on whether all or any are true.

How to combine IF and AND

Use IF with AND to return a value only when all specified conditions are simultaneously true in Excel or Google Sheets.

How to combine IF and OR

Use IF with OR to return a value when at least one of several conditions is true in Excel or Google Sheets.

Formulas used

IFERROR VLOOKUP IF

Written and reviewed by FormulaCraft Team. Each formula on this page is run through our verification engine before publishing.

Last reviewed: May 28, 2026