Spreadsheet Practice

How to check if a number is even or odd in Excel

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=IF(ISEVEN(A2),"Even side","Odd side")

Use ISEVEN inside IF: =IF(ISEVEN(A2),"Even side","Odd side"). MOD(A2,2)=0 does the same in any app.

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B8
Works in
Every current version
Google Sheets
Same formula

See it work

The formula is already in B2, filled down to B8. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

ISEVEN returns TRUE when a number divides by 2 with nothing left over, and IF turns that into a label. ISODD is the opposite test.

=IF(ISEVEN(A2),"Even side","Odd side")

Result"Even side"

  1. A2112

    The value in A2.

  2. ISEVEN(A2)TRUE

    ISEVEN: TRUE if the number is even.

    • numberA2112
  3. IF(ISEVEN(A2),"Even side","Odd side")"Even side"

    IF: Returns one value if a test is true, another if false.

    • logical_testISEVEN(A2)TRUE
    • value_if_true"Even side"
    • value_if_false"Odd side"not used

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =IF(ISEVEN(A2),"Even side","Odd side"). We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=IF(MOD(A2,2)=0,"Even side","Odd side")Even side, Odd side, Even side…MOD gives the remainder after dividing by 2: 0 for even, 1 for odd. The same idea tests any divisor, like MOD(A2,3)=0.
=IF(ISODD(A2),"Odd side","Even side")Even side, Odd side, Even side…ISODD is the mirror image of ISEVEN.

Common mistakes

  • ISEVEN and ISODD ignore decimals: 3.5 is treated as 3, which is odd.
  • Text, including numbers stored as text, returns #VALUE!. Convert it with VALUE first.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Check if a number is even or odd

In B2, show "Even side" for even house numbers and "Odd side" for odd ones. Fill down to B8.

Questions

How do I shade every other row?

Use a conditional formatting rule with =ISEVEN(ROW()).

How do I count the odd numbers in a range?

=SUMPRODUCT(--ISODD(A2:A8)).

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.