Purpose
Test for any error
Return value
A logical value (TRUE or FALSE)
Arguments
- value - The value to check for any error.
Syntax
=ISERROR(value)
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.
