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To check if a cell is empty in Google Sheets, you can use the IF function to return a custom value if the cell is empty. The IF function takes three arguments: a logical test, the value if the logical test is true, and the value if the logical test is false. To check if a cell is empty, the logical test is simply “=ISBLANK(cell)”. If the cell is empty, the function will return the value you specify for “true”; if the cell is not empty, the function will return the value you specify for “false”. You can then use this custom value in other formulas or functions.
You can use the following formulas to check if cells are empty in Google Sheets:
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 Google Sheets.
Example 1: Check if One Cell is Empty
Suppose we have the following dataset in Google Sheets 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
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.
Note: You can find the complete documentation for the ISBLANK function in Google Sheets .