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ISBLANK

ISBLANK

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Description 

Use this function to see if a cell is empty. Supported in Chains. 

This returns TRUE if the cell is empty or FALSE if the selection is not empty.

 

Syntax

ISBLANK(value)

 

Inputs

This function has the following arguments:

Name Required Description Valid Input
value Yes The cell that you want to evaluate.  A reference to a cell, or a formula which results in one.

 

Examples

Sample data

  A B C  
1   56 George  
2 green 39 Hani  
3 orange 15 Isis  
4 red 92 Juan  
5 blue 22 Kimber  

Sample formulas

Use case Formula Explanation and Result
Check to see if a specific cell is empty. =ISBLANK(A1)

This formula works in the following manner:

  • ISBLANK(: This is the function itself, which checks if a cell is empty.
  • A1: The cell reference to check.
  • The function returns TRUE if the cell is empty and FALSE otherwise.

Result: TRUE. (Because A1 is empty.)
Check to see if a specific cell is empty. =ISBLANK(A2)

This formula works in the following manner:

  • ISBLANK(: This is the function itself.
  • A2: The cell reference to check.

Result: FALSE. (Because A2 contains "green".)
Check if any of a set of cells is empty. =IF(OR(ISBLANK(A1),ISBLANK(B1),ISBLANK(C1)),"Missing value")

This formula works in the following manner:

  • ISBLANK(A1), ISBLANK(B1), ISBLANK(C1): These check if each respective cell is empty, returning TRUE or FALSE for each.
  • OR(...): This function takes the results of the ISBLANK checks. It returns TRUE if *any* of the ISBLANK functions return TRUE (meaning at least one cell is blank).
  • IF(OR(...), "Missing value"): This function checks the result of the OR function.
    • If OR is TRUE (at least one cell is blank), the IF function returns the text "Missing value".
    • If OR is FALSE (none of the cells are blank), the IF  function returns FALSE (because the value_if_false argument is omitted).

Result: Missing value. (Because A1 is empty.)

 

Notes

  • Cell ranges are not supported.
  • You can join multiple instances of ISBLANK to check if any of a set of cells is blank:
    =IF(OR(ISBLANK(A1),ISBLANK(B1),ISBLANK(C1)),"Missing value",SUM(A1:C1))
    Because OR will return TRUE if any supplied value is TRUE, the formula will display "Missing value" if any of the cells identified with an ISBLANK function return TRUE. 

 

Tips

You can use ISBLANK in these ways:

  • To test for an empty cell in a dataset.
  • To trigger a conditional formatting rule that highlights all empty cells (see Filling only blank cells with color).
  • You can combine ISBLANK with the IF function to display a custom message if a cell is empty. For example, you might display "Input Required" if a cell is blank.
  • Instead of =ISBLANK(A1), you can use the expression =A1="".  
  • You can combine ISBLANK with the NOT function to reverse the logic to "is not blank". Example: =NOT(ISBLANK(A1))
  • Instead of =NOT(ISBLANK(A1)), you can use the expression =A1<>"".
  • If you want to count blank cells, use COUNTBLANK.

 

Related functions

Description Use this function to see if a cell is empty. Supported in Chains. This returns TRUE if the cell is empty ...