How to use the Excel ISERROR function

Summary

The Excel ISERROR function returns TRUE for any error type excel generates, including #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME?, or #NULL! You can use ISERROR together with the IF function to test for errors and display a custom message, or run a different calculation when an error occurs.

Purpose

Test for any error

Return value

A logical value (TRUE or FALSE)

Syntax

=ISERROR (value)

Arguments

value - The value to check for any error.

Version

Excel 2003

Usage notes

The ISERROR function returns TRUE for any type of error, including #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME?, #NULL!, #CALC!, and #SPILL! errors. You can use ISERROR together with the IF function to test for errors and display a custom message, or run a different calculation when an error occurs. The ISERROR function takes one argument, value, which is typically a cell reference.

Examples

ISERROR will return TRUE if A1 contains an error:

=ISERROR(A1) // TRUE if A1 contains an error

You can use the ISERROR function together with the IF function to test for an error and display a custom message if found:

=IF(ISERROR(A1),"custom message")

To trap an error and perform a different calculation, the IFERROR function is a cleaner approach.

Other error functions

Excel provides a number of error-related functions, each with a different behavior:

The ISERR function returns TRUE for any error type except the #N/A error.
The ISERROR function returns TRUE for any error.
The ISNA function returns TRUE for #N/A errors only.
The ERROR.TYPE function returns the numeric code for a given error.
The IFERROR function traps errors and provides an alternative result.
The IFNA function traps #N/A errors and provides an alternative result.

Related functions

Excel ISERR Function

The Excel ISERR function returns TRUE for any error type except the #N/A error. You can use the ISERR function together with the IF function to test for an error and display a custom message, or perform a different calculation if found.

Excel ERROR.TYPE Function

The Excel ERROR.TYPE function returns a number that corresponds to a specific error value. You can use ERROR.TYPE to test for specific kinds of errors. If no error exists, ERROR.TYPE returns #N/A. See below for a key to the error codes returned...

Excel ISBLANK Function

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

Excel ISEVEN Function

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Excel ISFORMULA Function

The Excel ISFORMULA function returns TRUE if a cell contains a formula, and FALSE if not. When a cell contains a formula ISFORMULA will return TRUE regardless of the formula's output or error conditions.

Excel ISLOGICAL Function

The Excel ISLOGICAL function returns TRUE when a cell contains the logical values TRUE or FALSE, and returns FALSE for cells that contain any other value, including empty cells.

Excel ISNA Function

The Excel ISNA function returns TRUE when a cell contains the #N/A error and FALSE for any other value, or any other error type. You can use the ISNA function with the IF function test for #N/A and display a friendly message if the error occurs...

Excel ISNONTEXT Function

The Excel ISNONTEXT function returns TRUE when a cell contains any value except text. This includes numbers, dates, times, errors, and formulas that do not return text. ISNONTEXT also returns TRUE when a cell is empty.

Excel ISNUMBER Function

The Excel ISNUMBER function returns TRUE when a cell contains a number, and FALSE if not. You can use ISNUMBER to check that a cell contains a numeric value, or that the result of another function is a number.

Excel ISODD Function

The Excel ISODD function returns TRUE when a value is an odd number, and FALSE when a value is an even number. ISODD will return the #VALUE error if a value is not numeric.

Excel ISREF Function

The Excel ISREF returns TRUE when a cell contains a reference and FALSE if not. You can use the ISREF function to check for a reference in a formula.

Excel ISTEXT Function

The Excel ISTEXT function returns TRUE when a cell contains a text value, and FALSE if the cell contains any other value. You can use the ISTEXT function to check if a cell contains a text value, or a numeric...