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) in a formula. Typically, BLANK()
is used within an IF statement. This article is part of a guided course which you can view here.
Finding an empty field
To check if a field is empty using BLANK()
, use a formula structure like this:
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 evaluate as true, and otherwise, false.
Outputting a blank value
There are two ways you can output a blank value in a field. Let's adjust the same formula used before to only output a message if Field A
has a value in it.
IF({Field A} = BLANK(), BLANK(), "Field A has some value in it")
As an alternative to using BLANK()
, you could re-write the same formula above to instead use empty quotes (""
).
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's 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:
IF(
Condition,
Value if true,
Value if false
)
You can use BLANK()
to do so, like this:
IF(
Condition,
Value if true,
BLANK()
)
However, you can simplify that statement by removing the ELSE
condition altogether:
IF(
Condition,
Value if true,
)
Formula Foundations
This article is part of a guided course that helps you learn how to use Airtable formulas.
View Course