---
title: "Identifying Blank Values | Airtable Support"
slug: "identifying-blank-values"
description: "The BLANK() function can be used to identify a blank, or empty, value in a field. It can also be used to output an empty value (nothing)..."
updated: 2025-01-15T16:37:52Z
published: 2025-01-15T16:37:52Z
stale: true
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.airtable.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Identifying blank values in Airtable

| [**Plan availability**](https://airtable.com/pricing) | All plan types |
| --- | --- |
| **Platform(s)** | Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app |
| **Related reading** | - [The essentials of Airtable formulas](/v1/docs/the-essentials-of-airtable-formulas) |

## Finding an empty field

This content is part of a [guided course](/v1/docs/formula-foundations) that includes the `BLANK()`function. The BLANK() function can identify an empty value in a field or output an empty value in a formula. Typically, the BLANK() function is used within IF statements.

> [!WARNING]
> Note
> 
> When using BLANK() along with != (not equal to), you may receive unexpected results if the fields you are selecting aren't numeric.

To check if a field is empty using `BLANK()`, use a formula structure like this:

```plaintext
IF({Field A} = BLANK(), "Field A is empty", "Field A has some value in it")
```

If there is any value in the field, it will be evaluated as true and, otherwise, false. However, there are a few caveats:

- Number-based fields - The function will evaluate as false if the value you set in the field is zero. In other words, the cell can be empty or filled with a value of 0 to evaluate as false.

![](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/formula_blank_example_2024.png)
- Other field types - The function will evaluate as true if the value you set in the field is zero. In other words, the cell must be empty to evaluate as false.

![](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/formula_blank_zero_non_number_2024.png)

## Outputting a blank value

There are two ways to output a blank value in a field. Let's adjust the previously used formula only to output a message if `Field A` has a value.

```plaintext
IF({Field A} = BLANK(), BLANK(), "Field A has some value in it")
```

![1500000119102BLANK002.jpg](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/1500000119102BLANK002.jpg)

As an alternative to using BLANK(), re-write the previously used formula to use empty quotes ( `""`) instead.

```plaintext
IF(Condition, Value if True, "")
```

This will result in the exact same output as using `BLANK()`.

## Blank values in IF statements

When using IF statements, there are often times when you want to output some value if the condition evaluates as positive, and otherwise, show nothing. As a reminder, here is the structure of every basic IF statement:

```plaintext
IF(
  Condition, 
    Value if true,
    Value if false
)
```

You can use `BLANK() `to do so, like this:

```plaintext
IF(
  Condition, 
    Value if true,
    BLANK()
)
```

However, you can simplify that statement by removing the `ELSE `condition altogether:

```plaintext
IF(
  Condition, 
    Value if true,
)
```

## FAQs

**How do I identify when a number field is "blank" so that cells containing a "0" value will not be evaluated as "blank?"**

Your cell values must be converted in the number field to strings, and an IF() statement must be utilized alongside the BLANK() function. Your formula should look similar to:

IF(BLANK()=CONCATENATE(Number,""), "Yes")

> [!CAUTION]
> NOTE
> 
> In your formula, input the number field you want to evaluate instead of “Number” in the formula above. Additionally, you can modify the “Yes” portion of the formula. This part determines what the formula will output when it finds cells that don’t contain some value, zero or otherwise. You can change it to be "Blank” or any other text string you prefer.