Excel BITOR Function

What is BITOR function in Excel?


The BITOR function is one of the Engineering functions of Excel.

It Returns a bitwise ‘or‘ of two numbers.

We can find this function in Engineering of insert function Tab.

Table of Contents

How to use BITOR function in excel

  1. Click on an empty cell (like F5).
an empty cell in excel

2. Click on the fx icon (or press shift+F3).

fx icon in excel

3. In the insert function tab you will see all functions.

insert function tab in excel

4. Select ENGINEERING category.

5. Select BITOR function.

6. Then select ok.

excel BITOR function

7. In the function arguments Tab you will see BITOR function.

8. Number1 is the decimal representation of the binary number you want to evaluate.

9. Number2 is the decimal representation of the binary number you want to evaluate.

10. You will see the results in the formula result section.

How to use BITOR function in excel

Examples of BITOR function in Excel

  1. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the binary numbers “1010” and “1100”: =BITOR(BIN2DEC(“1010”),BIN2DEC(“1100”)) Result: 14
  2. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the decimal numbers 15 and 7: =BITOR(15,7) Result: 15
  3. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the binary numbers “1001” and “0011”: =BITOR(BIN2DEC(“1001”),BIN2DEC(“0011”)) Result: 11
  4. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the hexadecimal numbers “A5” and “F0”: =BITOR(HEX2DEC(“A5”),HEX2DEC(“F0”)) Result: 245
  5. Perform a bitwise OR operation on a range of decimal numbers using an array formula: {=BITOR(A1:A4)} Result: Returns the result of the bitwise OR operation on all values in the range A1:A4.
  6. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the binary numbers “1010” and “1111”, then shift the result to the left by 2 bits using BITLSHIFT: =BITLSHIFT(BITOR(BIN2DEC(“1010”),BIN2DEC(“1111”)),2) Result: 60
  7. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the binary number “1100” and a range of binary numbers using an array formula: {=BITOR(BIN2DEC(“1100”),B1:B4)} Result: Returns the result of the bitwise OR operation on the binary number “1100” and each binary number in the range B1:B4.
  8. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the binary numbers “1011” and “0101”: =BITOR(BIN2DEC(“1011”),BIN2DEC(“0101”)) Result: 15
  9. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the decimal numbers 8 and 16: =BITOR(8,16) Result: 24
  10. Perform a bitwise OR operation on the binary number “1111” and a hexadecimal number “5F”: =BITOR(BIN2DEC(“1111”),HEX2DEC(“5F”)) Result: 95

Example 1:

How to use BITOR function in excel

You can see examples of BITOR function below:

Examples of BITOR function in Excel
bitor(A2,B2) ----->>>>answer is  0

bitor(A3,B3) ----->>>>answer is  1

bitor(A4,B4) ----->>>>answer is  10

bitor(A5,B5) ----->>>>answer is  11

bitor(A6,B6) ----->>>>answer is  1111

bitor(A7,B7) ----->>>>answer is  1111

“Introducing the BITOR Function in Excel: Everything You Need to Know”

If you’re working with binary data in Excel, you may find yourself needing to perform bitwise operations. One such operation is the BITOR function, which allows you to perform a logical OR on two binary numbers. This can be useful for combining sets of flags or testing for multiple conditions at once. In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the BITOR function in Excel.

“BITOR in Excel: What Does It Stand For and How does It Work?”

BITOR stands for “Bitwise OR” and is used to perform a logical OR operation on two sets of binary data. The function takes two arguments, each of which must be a binary number, and returns a new binary number that represents the result of the OR operation.

For example, if you have two binary numbers represented as “1100” and “1010”, the BITOR function would return “1110”. This is because the OR operation compares each bit in the two numbers and returns a 1 if either or both bits are 1.

“Learn the Syntax of the BITOR Function in Excel”

The syntax for the BITOR function in Excel is as follows:

=BITOR(number1, number2)

The “number1” and “number2” arguments represent the two binary numbers you want to perform the OR operation on. These arguments can be entered as binary literals (e.g. “1100”) or as decimal numbers that will be converted to binary by Excel.

Note that both arguments must be the same length, or else the function will return an error. If one argument is shorter than the other, you can pad it with zeroes to make them the same length.

“Understanding the Arguments of the BITOR Function in Excel”

To use the BITOR function effectively, it’s important to understand the arguments that it takes. As mentioned before, the function takes two binary numbers as arguments. Here are a few things to keep in mind when using these arguments:

  • Both arguments must be the same length.
  • The arguments can be entered as binary literals or as decimal numbers that will be converted to binary.
  • You can pad shorter arguments with zeroes to make them the same length.

For example, let’s say you want to perform a bitwise OR on the binary numbers “1010” and “110”. Since the second argument is shorter than the first, you would need to pad it with a zero to get “0110”. The BITOR function would then return “1110”, which is the result of performing the OR operation on the two numbers.

“How the BITOR Function Works: A Comprehensive Guide”

To understand how the BITOR function works, it’s helpful to know a bit about binary arithmetic. In binary, each digit can only have two possible values: 0 or 1. When you perform an OR operation on two binary digits, the result is 1 if either or both of the digits are 1. Otherwise, the result is 0.

The BITOR function takes two sets of binary data and performs this OR operation on each pair of bits. For example, let’s say you want to perform a bitwise OR on the binary numbers “1010” and “110”. Here’s how the operation would be performed:

    1010
OR  0110
=   1110

As you can see, the function compares each pair of bits and returns a 1 if either or both bits are 1. The resulting binary number is the combination of the two input numbers, with all of the OR operations applied.

“Step-by-Step Guide on How to Use the BITOR Function in Excel Formulas”

If you’re new to using the BITOR function in Excel, it can be helpful to have a step-by-step guide that walks you through the process. Here’s how to use the BITOR function in an Excel formula:

  1. Decide which binary numbers you want to perform the OR operation on.
  2. Write out the formula with the BITOR function and the two numbers as arguments: =BITOR(number1, number2)
  3. Replace “number1” and “number2” with the actual binary numbers or cell references to those numbers.
  4. Press Enter to execute the formula and see the result.

For example, let’s say you want to perform a bitwise OR on the binary numbers “1010” and “110”. You could use the following formula to do so:

=BITOR(1010, 0110)

The formula would return a binary number of “1110”.

“Non-Numeric Values and the BITOR Function: What You Need to Know”

The BITOR function in Excel only works with binary numbers. If you try to input non-numeric values such as text strings or blank cells, the function will return a #VALUE error. It’s important to make sure that your inputs are valid binary numbers before using the BITOR function.

For example, if you accidentally input the value “12” instead of “1100”, the BITOR function will return an error. To avoid this, you can use the BIN2DEC function to convert binary numbers to decimal before using them in the BITOR function.

“Exploring the Range of Values for the BITOR Function in Excel”

The BITOR function in Excel works with binary numbers that are up to 10 digits long. Larger numbers can be split into smaller sections and combined using multiple instances of the BITOR function.

For example, let’s say you want to perform a bitwise OR on the binary numbers “1010101010” and “1100110011”. Since these numbers are 10 digits long, you can use the BITOR function with both numbers as arguments:

=BITOR(1010101010, 1100110011)

The resulting binary number would be “1110111011”.

If the numbers were longer than 10 digits, you could split them into smaller sections (e.g. two 10-digit sections or four 5-digit sections) and combine the results using multiple instances of the BITOR function.

“Using the BITOR Function to Compare Binary Numbers in Excel”

One common use for the BITOR function is to compare sets of flags represented as binary numbers. You can use the function to test whether one or more flags are set in a given binary number.

For example, let’s say you have a set of flags represented by the binary number “1100101”. If you want to test whether the third flag is set (i.e. its value is 1), you could use the BITOR function with the binary number “0000100”:

=BITOR(1100101, 0000100)

If the result is equal to the second argument (“0000100”), then the third flag is set. In this case, the formula would return “0000101”.

“Converting Decimal Numbers to Binary for Use with the BITOR Function in Excel”

If you have decimal numbers that you want to use with the BITOR function in Excel, you’ll first need to convert them to binary. One way to do this is to use the DEC2BIN function, which converts decimal values to binary.

For example, let’s say you want to perform a bitwise OR on the decimal values 12 and 6. You could convert these numbers to binary using DEC2BIN:

=BITOR(DEC2BIN(12), DEC2BIN(6))

The formula would return a binary number of “1110”.

“Combining Multiple Binary Numbers Using the BITOR Function in Excel”

The BITOR function in Excel can be used to combine multiple binary numbers into a single result. To do this, you simply enter each binary number as an argument in the formula.

For example, let’s say you want to perform a bitwise OR on the binary numbers “1010”, “1100”, and “0110”. You could use the following formula to combine these numbers:

=BITOR(1010, 1100, 0110)

The formula would return a binary number of “1110”.

“Using the BITOR Function in Conjunction with Other Bitwise Functions in Excel”

The BITOR function is just one of several bitwise functions available in Excel. You can use it in conjunction with other bitwise functions like BITAND and BITXOR to perform more complex operations on your binary data.

For example, let’s say you have two binary numbers: “1010” and “1100”. You want to perform a logical AND operation on these numbers and then perform a bitwise OR on the result with another binary number “0110”. You could use the following formula to do so:

=BITOR(BITAND(1010, 1100), 0110)

The formula would first perform the AND operation on “1010” and “1100”, which would return “1000”. It would then perform a bitwise OR on “1000” and “0110”, resulting in a binary number of “1110”.

“What Happens When You Use More Than Two Arguments with the BITOR Function in Excel?”

The BITOR function in Excel can accept up to 255 arguments, allowing you to combine a large number of binary numbers into a single result. When you use more than two arguments, the function performs the OR operation on each pair of bits in the binary numbers from left to right.

For example, let’s say you want to perform a bitwise OR on the binary numbers “1010”, “1100”, and “0110”. You could use the following formula to combine these numbers:

=BITOR(1010, 1100, 0110)

The formula would first perform the OR operation on “1010” and “1100”, resulting in “1110”. It would then perform another OR operation on “1110” and “0110”, resulting in a binary number of “1110”.

“Using the BITOR Function with Conditional Statements Like IF in Excel”

You can use the BITOR function in Excel with conditional statements like IF to perform logical operations on your binary data. For example, let’s say you have two binary numbers: “1010” and “0110”. You want to perform a logical OR operation on these numbers only if the first bit of the first number is 1. To do this, you could use the following formula:

=IF(MID(1010, 1, 1) = 1, BITOR(1010, 0110), 0)

The MID function extracts the first bit from the “1010” binary number. If it is equal to 1, the formula performs a bitwise OR on “1010” and “0110”. Otherwise, the formula returns 0.

“Performing Logical Operations Like AND and OR with the BITOR Function in Excel”

The BITOR function in Excel is used to perform a logical OR operation on binary numbers. If you want to perform other logical operations like AND or NOT, you’ll need to use different bitwise functions. Here are a few examples:

  • To perform a logical AND operation, use the BITAND function.
  • To perform a logical NOT operation, use the BITNOT function.
  • To perform an exclusive OR (XOR) operation, use the BITXOR function.

For example, let’s say you want to perform a logical AND operation on the binary numbers “1010” and “1100”. You could use the following formula with the BITAND function:

=BITAND(1010, 1100)

The formula would return a binary number of “1000”, which is the result of performing the AND operation on the two input numbers.

“Using the BITOR Function with Other Excel Functions like SUM or AVERAGE”

You can use the BITOR function in conjunction with other Excel functions like SUM or AVERAGE to perform calculations on your binary data. For example, let’s say you have a range of binary numbers that you want to combine using the BITOR function and then find the average of those numbers. You could use the following formula:

=AVERAGE(BITOR(A1:A5))

This formula would first perform the BITOR operation on the range A1:A5 and then find the average of the resulting binary numbers.

“Exploring the Use of Arrays with the BITOR Function in Excel”

The BITOR function in Excel can be used with arrays to perform operations on multiple sets of binary data at once. To do this, you simply enter the binary numbers as separate elements within the array.

For example, let’s say you have two arrays of binary numbers: {1010, 1100, 0110} and {1111, 0000, 1001}. You want to perform a bitwise OR on each pair of numbers in the arrays and return the resulting binary numbers in a new array. You could use the following formula:

=BITOR({1010, 1100, 0110}, {1111, 0000, 1001})

The formula would return an array of binary numbers: {1111, 1100, 1111}.

“Limitations to Using the BITOR Function in Excel: What You Need to Know”

While the BITOR function in Excel is a useful tool for working with binary data, there are some limitations to keep in mind. Here are a few things to be aware of:

  • The function only works with binary numbers.
  • Both arguments must be the same length.
  • There is a limit of 255 arguments when using the function with multiple inputs.
  • The function does not perform any error checking, so it’s important to make sure your inputs are valid binary numbers.

“Troubleshooting Errors When Using the BITOR Function in Excel”

If you encounter errors when using the BITOR function in Excel, there are a few things you can check to troubleshoot the problem. Here are some common issues and their solutions:

  • Make sure both arguments are valid binary numbers. Non-numeric values will return a #VALUE error.
  • Ensure that both arguments are the same length. Arguments of different lengths will return a #NUM error.
  • Check that you’ve entered the correct syntax for the function. Typos or missing elements will return a #NAME error.

“Where to Find More Information on Using the BITOR Function in Excel”

If you’re looking for more information on using the BITOR function in Excel, Microsoft offers extensive documentation on their website. You can also find tutorials and examples from Excel experts and forums online. Additionally, there are many books and courses dedicated to Excel functions and formulas that may cover the BITOR function in depth.

BITOR related functions 

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