Excel formula: If cell is not blank

Generic formula

=IF(A1<>"",result,"")

Explanation

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<>"","Done","")

The <> symbol is a logical operator that means "not equal to", so the expression <>"" means "not nothing" or "not empty". When column D contains a value, the result is TRUE and IF returns "Done". When column D is empty, the result is FALSE and IF returns an empty string ("").

Two results

To display both "Done" and "Not done", you can adjust the formula like this:

=IF(D5<>"","Done","Not done")

With ISBLANK

The ISBLANK function returns TRUE when a cell is empty and FALSE if not. To use ISBLANK, you can rewrite the formula like this:

=IF(ISBLANK(D5),"","Done")

Notice the TRUE and FALSE results have been swapped. To keep the original sequence, maintain the original idea of <>"", you can add the NOT function:

=IF(NOT(ISBLANK(D5)),"Done","")

Author

Dave Bruns

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