ISBLANK Function in Excel: Is the Cell Truly Empty?

⏱ 1 min readUpdated 28 September 2026

InformationLevel: BeginnerAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. Example 2
  5. Related functions

ISBLANK returns TRUE only for truly empty cells. A formula returning “” is not blank to ISBLANK — a common surprise.

Syntax

=ISBLANK(value)
Argument What it means
value Usually a cell reference.

Examples

Example 1

=IF(ISBLANK(C2), "Missing", "")

Flag empty mandatory fields.

Example 2

=C2=""

TRUE for empty cells and for formulas returning “” — often what you actually want.

COUNTBLANK · ISNUMBER · IF

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