Now pair that with IF. The king of logic. =IF(A1<>“”, “Yes”, “No”) does the same thing, but quicker. <> means “not equal to.” It’s a tiny, savage symbol.
Here’s a truth bomb: IF(A1>“”, “Do something”, “Do nothing”) works because Excel treats a blank as less than anything. It’s a weird rule, but it breaks the game.
You can also use =IF(A1=“”, “”, A1+1). This says: “If blank, leave it alone. If not, add 1.” It’s polite. It’s powerful. It’s your data’s personal bodyguard.
Funny Detail: The VLOOKUP Trap
Ever had VLOOKUP fail? It returns #N/A when it can’t find a match. Combine it with “If Not Blank” to dodge that disaster. =IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(...)), “”, VLOOKUP(...)) hides the error. Clean. Smooth. No one screams.
But wait—there’s a funny catch. Excel thinks a cell with a space (“ “) is not blank. It’s a lying cell. It looks empty, but it’s secretly a house cat pretending to be a lion. Use =TRIM(cell) to strip those ghost spaces first.
count non-blank cells in Excel Archives - PickupBrain: Be Smart
I once saw a manager’s entire report fail because of one invisible space. He blamed the computer. We blamed the space. The computer won.
