ISBLANK
Return TRUE if a cell holds nothing at all, and FALSE otherwise — including for a formula that returns empty text.
Syntax
ISBLANK(value)| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
value | Required | Usually a cell reference. |
Examples
Every example below was executed against VisiGrid engine 0.51.0 — not
transcribed from another vendor's documentation. Reproduce any of them with vgrid calc.
| Formula | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
=ISBLANK(B2) | TRUE | Nothing in the cell. |
=ISBLANK(B3) | FALSE | |
=ISBLANK("") | FALSE | Empty text is a value, not an empty cell. |
=B2="" | TRUE | The looser test treats an empty cell and empty text alike. |
Blank or looks blank
A cell holding a formula like =IF(A2="","",A2*2) looks empty when A2 is,
but it is not — it holds a formula whose result is empty text. ISBLANK says
FALSE for it, as Excel does.
When “looks empty” is what you mean, compare with empty text instead:
=IF(B2="","missing","ok")That is TRUE for a truly empty cell and for empty text alike, which is usually the question a validation column is asking.
Counting rather than testing
For a whole range, COUNTBLANK counts the empty
cells in one step. Note that it counts cells showing empty text as blank too,
so it answers the looser question, not the strict one ISBLANK asks.
Excel compatibility
Matches Excel, including FALSE for a formula that returns "".