ISBLANK Function

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The Excel ISBLANK function tests whether a cell is truly empty. It returns TRUE or FALSE, making it the building block of error-proof formulas, validation, and conditional logic.

Quick answer: test a cell:
=ISBLANK(A2) // TRUE when the cell is genuinely empty

Syntax

=ISBLANK(value)
ArgumentDescription
valueRequiredThe value, cell, or expression to test.

How to use it

ISBLANK returns TRUE when the cell is genuinely empty, and FALSE otherwise. Wrap it in IF to act on the result, or sum it with SUMPRODUCT to count matches: =SUMPRODUCT(--ISBLANK(A2:A100)). A frequent gotcha: a formula returning "" looks empty but ISBLANK reports FALSE.

The IS family: ISBLANK, ISNUMBER, ISTEXT, ISLOGICAL, ISNONTEXT, ISERR, ISERROR, ISNA, ISREF, ISFORMULA, ISEVEN, and ISODD each return TRUE or FALSE so you can branch with IF, count with SUMPRODUCT, or drive conditional formatting.

Try it: interactive demo

Live demo

Pick an input and watch the formula and result update.

Result:

Practice workbook

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Frequently asked questions

Does ISBLANK treat "" as blank?
No — a cell holding "" (empty string from a formula) is NOT blank to ISBLANK. Test with =A2="" instead if you need to catch those.
How do I act on the TRUE/FALSE result?
Wrap it in IF: =IF(ISBLANK(A2), "yes", "no").
Can I count how many cells pass?
Yes: =SUMPRODUCT(--ISBLANK(range)) counts the TRUEs.

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Related functions: ISERROR · ISNUMBER · ISBLANK · IFERROR · NA