How to use the Excel ISBLANK function

Summary

The Excel ISBLANK function returns TRUE when a cell contains is empty, and FALSE when a cell is not empty. For example, if A1 contains "apple", ISBLANK(A1) returns FALSE.

Purpose

Test if a cell is empty

Return value

A logical value (TRUE or FALSE)

Syntax

=ISBLANK (value)

Arguments

value - The value to check.

Usage notes

Use the ISBLANK function to test if a cell is empty or not.

For example, =ISBLANK(A1) will return TRUE if A1 is empty, and FALSE if A1 contains text a formula (even if the formula returns an empty string "").

It's probably best to think of ISBLANK to mean "is empty" since it can return FALSE when cells look blank but aren't. For example, if A1 contains a space character (" "), or a formula that returns an empty string (""), A1 will look blank , but ISBLANK(A1) will return FALSE in both cases.

ISBLANK formula examples

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To show a checkmark when a task is complete, you can use a formula based on the IF and CHAR functions. In the example shown, the formula in D5, copied down, is: =IF(C5="complete",CHAR(252),"")...

Return blank if

To return a blank result using the IF function, you can use an empty string (""). In the example shown, the formula in D5 (copied down) is: =IF(B5=1,C5,"") How this formula works This formula is based on...

If cell is not blank

To take an action only when the cell is not blank (not empty), you can use a formula based on the IF function. In the example shown, column D holds task complete dates. The formula in cell E5 is: =IF(D5<>"...

Highlight blank cells

If you want to highlight cells that are blank or empty with conditional formatting, you can do so with a simple formula based on the ISBLANK function. For example, if you want to highlight blank cells in the range B4:...

Count total words in a cell

To count the total words in a cell, you can use a formula based on the LEN and SUBSTITUTE functions. In the example shown, C3 contains this formula: =LEN(TRIM(B3))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B3," ",""))+1 How...

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