How to Check if a Pandas DataFrame is Empty (With Example)

You can use the following syntax to check if a pandas DataFrame is empty:

len(df.index) == 0

This particular syntax checks if the length of the index column in the DataFrame is equal to zero, which is equivalent to checking if the entire DataFrame is empty.

If the DataFrame is empty, this syntax will return True. Otherwise, it will return False.

If you would like to print custom text that tells you whether a DataFrame is empty, you can use a simple if else function:

if len(df.index) == 0:
    print('df is empty')
else:
    print('df is not empty')

The following example shows how to use these functions in practice.

Example: Check if Pandas DataFrame is Empty

Suppose we have the following empty pandas DataFrame:

import pandas as pd

#create empty DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame(columns=['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'])

#view DataFrame
print(df)

Empty DataFrame
Columns: [A, B, C, D, E]
Index: []

We can use the following code to check if the pandas DataFrame is empty:

#check if DataFrame is empty
len(df.index) == 0

True

The function returns True, which tells us that the DataFrame is indeed empty.

We could also use the following code to print custom text that tells us whether or not the DataFrame is empty:

#check if DataFrame is empty and return output
if len(df.index) == 0:
    print('df is empty')
else:
    print('df is not empty')

df is empty

The output tells us that the DataFrame is empty.

By contrast, suppose we have a DataFrame that is not empty:

import pandas as pd

#create DataFrame
df_full = pd.DataFrame({'team': ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F', 'G', 'H'],
                   'points': [18, 22, 19, 14, 14, 11, 20, 28],
                   'assists': [5, 7, 7, 9, 12, 9, 9, 4],
                   'rebounds': [11, 8, 10, 6, 6, 5, 9, 12]})

#view DataFrame
print(df_full)

  team  points  assists  rebounds
0    A      18        5        11
1    B      22        7         8
2    C      19        7        10
3    D      14        9         6
4    E      14       12         6
5    F      11        9         5
6    G      20        9         9
7    H      28        4        12

We can use the len() function to check if the DataFrame is empty:

#check if DataFrame is empty
len(df_full.index) == 0

False

The function returns False, which tells us that the DataFrame is not empty.

And if we use an if else function, we can return custom output:

#check if DataFrame is empty and return output
if len(df_full.index) == 0:
    print('df is empty')
else:
    print('df is not empty')

df is not empty