You can use the following formulas to check if cells are empty in Excel:
Method 1: Check if One Cell is Empty
=IF(ISBLANK(A1),"Empty","Not Empty")
If cell A1 is empty, this formula returns “Empty” and if it’s not then the formula returns “Not Empty.”
Method 2: Check if Multiple Cells are Empty
=IF(AND(ISBLANK(A1), ISBLANK(B1)),"Empty","Not Empty")
If cells A1 and B1 are both empty, this formula returns “Empty.” Otherwise, it returns “Not Empty.”
The following examples show how to use each method in Excel.
Example 1: Check if One Cell is Empty
Suppose we have the following dataset in Excel that shows the number of points scored by various basketball players:
We’ll use the following formula to check if each cell in column A is empty:
=IF(ISBLANK(A2),"Empty","Not Empty")
We’ll type this formula into cell B2 and then copy and paste it down to every remaining cell in column B:
The values in column B tell us whether each corresponding value in column A is empty or not.
Example 2: Check if Multiple Cells are Empty
Suppose we have the following dataset in Excel:
We’ll use the following formula to check if the cell in both column A and column B are empty:
=IF(AND(ISBLANK(A2), ISBLANK(B2)),"Empty","Not Empty")
We’ll type this formula into cell C2 and then copy and paste it down to every remaining cell in column C:
The values in column C tell us whether or not both corresponding values in column A and column B are empty.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Excel:
Excel: How to Check if Range Contains Specific Value
Excel: How to Check if Cell Contains Partial Text
Excel: How to Check if One Column Value Exists in Another Column
