Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Returning Blanks with VLOOKUP.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 7, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
When you use VLOOKUP to return a value from a data table, the function does not differentiate between blanks and zero values in what it returns. If the source value is zero, then VLOOKUP returns 0. Likewise, if the source is blank, then VLOOKUP still returns the value 0. For some purposes, this may not do—you need to know whether the cell being looked up is blank or if it really contains a 0.
There are many different solutions that could be pursued. One solution relies on the fact that even though VLOOKUP returns a 0, it will correctly report the length of the source cell. Thus, if you use the LEN function on what is returned, if the source cell is empty the LEN function returns 0, but if the source contains a 0 then LEN returns 1 (the 0 value is 1 character in length). This means that you could use the following formula in place of a standard VLOOKUP:
=IF(LEN(VLOOKUP(B1,D:E,2,0))=0,"",VLOOKUP(B1,D:E,2,0))
In this case if the length of what VLOOKUP returns is 0, then the formula returns a blank. Only if the length is not 0 is the result of the VLOOKUP returned.
There are other variations on this same concept, each testing a different characteristic of the data being referenced and then making the decision as to whether to actually look up that data. (As you can surmise, the variation you develop for your needs will depend on the "different characteristics of the data being referenced.")
Here's a variation, for example, that directly tests to see if the source is blank:
=IF(VLOOKUP(B1,D:E,2)="","",VLOOKUP(B1,D:E,2))
The formula can also be modified to check the source cell for multiple conditions. For instance, this variation returns a blank if the source is blank or if the source contains an error value (such as #N/A):
=IFERROR(TRIM(VLOOKUP(B1,H:H,1,FALSE)),"")
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12518) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Returning Blanks with VLOOKUP.
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2020-12-10 13:23:13
Kat
Ellybee, Does your suggestion make all zeros go away? Such as, if there is a calculation that results in a zero, does that zero also disappear? That would be a downfall.
Thanks!
2019-07-30 08:52:01
Ellybee
But a MUCH simpler way ...
1. Click the File menu and then choose Options at the bottom of the right pane.
2. Choose Advanced in the left pane. ...
3. In the Display Options For This Worksheet section, uncheck the Show A Zero In Cells That Have Zero Value.
4. Click OK.
2018-08-28 11:34:14
Dennis Costello
Relative to Alex's comment, one might wish to interpret a blank as text in one cell and as a 0 in another - and in that situation things become a lot simpler. For instance, imagine a this group of cells A5:E5
A5 B5 C5 D5 E5
Lbl 1 3 4
If you wanted to have a linked copy of these cells somewhere else, and wanted a blank in cell A5 to appear as a blank but a blank in any of the others to show up as a 0, you could use either of these sets of formulae:
=A5 & "" =B5 =C5 =D5 =E5
=IF(ISBLANK(A5), "", A5) =IF(ISTEXT(B5), 0, B5) =IF(ISTEXT(C5), 0, C5) =IF(ISTEXT(D5), 0, D5) =IF(ISTEXT(E5), 0, E5)
Clearly the formulae in the first set are a lot simpler than those in the second set; I'm kicking myself for not realizing this simple approach because I used formulae almost identical to those in the second set - and a huge number of them - for years in a template spreadsheet I created. Alex is correct, though - if you need to care whether the source has a 0 or is blank the longer formulae is the way to go.
Thanks, Micky, for reminding me to "keep it simple, stupid"!
2018-01-22 00:05:39
Alex B
The only issue with both of these
=IFERROR(TRIM(VLOOKUP(B1,H:H,1,FALSE)),"")
=VLOOKUP(B1,D:E,2,0)&""
they both will always return a text result, so all numbers will returned will be text.
(the original issue referenced distinguishing between blank and zero)
So you may still want to use one of the longer versions.
2018-01-20 15:28:01
Michael (Micky) Avidan
@Allen,
Wouldn't: =VLOOKUP(B1,D:E,2,0)&"" provide the same result ?
----------------------------
Michael (Micky) Avidan
“Microsoft® Answers" - Wiki author & Forums Moderator
“Microsoft®” Excel MVP – Excel (2009-2018)
ISRAEL
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
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