ISBLANK
Returns TRUE if a cell is empty, FALSE otherwise.
ISBLANK(value)Arguments
valueThe cell to check
=ISBLANK(A1)Checks if A1 is empty
=IF(ISBLANK(A1),"Empty",A1)Shows 'Empty' for blank cells
=COUNTIF(A:A,"")Alternative way to count blanks
- •Cells with formulas returning '' are NOT blank
- •Use COUNTBLANK to count blank cells
- •Empty string '' is not considered blank
- •Using ISBLANK on a cell containing a formula that returns an empty string, expecting TRUE - it returns FALSE, since the cell technically contains a formula, not nothing
- •Testing a cell that looks empty but actually has a stray space character, which makes ISBLANK return FALSE unexpectedly
- •Using ISBLANK on a range instead of a single cell, which doesn't work the way you might expect since it's designed to test one cell at a time
ISNUMBERTests whether a cell contains a number, a different kind of check than blank versus filled.COUNTBLANKCounts blank cells across an entire range instead of testing one cell.IFCommonly wraps ISBLANK to trigger different behavior based on whether a cell is empty.Why does ISBLANK return FALSE for a cell that looks empty?
The cell probably contains a formula returning an empty string, or a stray space character - both make the cell look empty but not technically blank.
Can ISBLANK check an entire range at once?
Not meaningfully - it's built to test a single cell. For checking blanks across a range, use COUNTBLANK instead.
Is there a difference between ISBLANK and checking =A1=""?
Yes - =A1="" also returns TRUE for a cell containing a formula that evaluates to an empty string, while ISBLANK only returns TRUE for a truly empty cell.
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