not

The not operator inverts the truth value of a Boolean/Checkbox value in a Notion formula. Another way of thinking about it is that it returns true only if its operand is false. It accepts Boolean operands.

not Boolean
not(Boolean)

It can be used in several ways, including:

• Changing true to false, or vice-versa
• Checking whether a property is not empty
• Inverting the truth value of an if statement

Good to know: Notion is picky, so !, NOT, and Not won’t work here. Only the case-sensitive not will be accepted.

You can also use the function version, not().

Example Formula

not true // Output: false

not(true) // Output: false

not empty("Hello") // Output: true

not if(50>40,true,false) // Output: false

Example Database

This example database shows a list of applications to join a pirate crew. The captain only wants to hire pirates that have powers, and he won’t accept anyone with snot-based powers. That’d be gross.

The Interview checkbox returns true only if both of those conditions are met. The Interviews view filters by this checkbox, showing the captain only the candidates that meet his conditions.

View and Duplicate Database

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“Interview” Property Formula

// Compressed
if(not empty(prop("Power")) and not test(prop("Power"), "[Ss]not"), true, false)

// Expanded
if(
	not empty(
		prop("Power")
	) and not test(
		prop("Power"), "[Ss]not"
	), 
	true, 
	false
)

This formula uses a couple other functions:

• empty – tests to see if the Power property is empty
• test – tests to see if the first argument (the Power property’s string value) contains the second argument, “Snot”.
  • By writing “[Ss]” the test() function will catch both cases; normally, it is case-sensitive.