How to Create a Formula to Correctly Evaluate Blank Cells

Excel’s ISBLANK function is one of a group of “Information Functions” that can be used to find out information about a specific cell, worksheet or workbook.

The ISBLANK function's job is to check to see if a certain cell is empty or not. If the cell is empty, a value of TRUE is returned by the function.

If data is later added to an empty cell the function will automatically update and return a FALSE value.

The syntax for the ISBLANK function is:

= ISBLANK ( Value )

Value: Refers to the cell reference that is being checked.

Example Using Excel's ISBLANK Function:

Type a number, such as " 3 ", or a word of text into cell C1. 

Click on cell D1 - the location where the results will be displayed and type the syntax of isblank then select the cell i.e C1 and close the bracket.

The value FALSE should appear in cell D1 because cell C1 is not empty.

The complete function = ISBLANK ( C1 ) appears in the formula bar above the worksheet when you click on cell D1.

To return a value of TRUE in cell D1, delete the data in cell C1 or change the cell reference in the function to a cell that is empty.