Excel function · Logic
ISBLANK
Checks whether a cell is empty.
What it does
ISBLANK returns TRUE only for a cell with nothing in it. Use it to flag missing entries, often inside IF.
Syntax
=ISBLANK(value)Arguments in square brackets are optional, and … means you can add more of the same. In this Excel language, arguments are separated by ,
Arguments
- value
- The cell to check.
Example
Is the email address in row 2 missing?
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missing? | |
| 2 | TRUE | |
| 3 | kai@example.com |
The formula in B2:
=ISBLANK(A2)Result: TRUE
A2 is empty, so the result is TRUE. A3 has an address and would give FALSE.
Common mistakes
- Cells that only look empty. A space, or a formula that returns
"", makesISBLANKreturn FALSE. To treat both as empty, testA2=""instead. - Putting the address in quotes.
ISBLANK("A2")checks the text A2, which is never blank.
In other Excel languages
Excel translates function names, and in some languages the argument separator too. Type the name your Excel shows.
| Excel language | Function name | Separator |
|---|---|---|
| English | ISBLANK | , |
| Deutsch | ISTLEER | ; |
| Français | ESTVIDE | ; |
| Español (España) | ESBLANCO | ; |
| Español (México) | ESBLANCO | , |
| 日本語 | ISBLANK | , |
| 한국어 | ISBLANK | , |
| 繁體中文 | ISBLANK | , |
| ไทย | ISBLANK | , |
| ខ្មែរ | ISBLANK | , |
| Tiếng Việt | ISBLANK | ; |