Excel ISERROR Function

If you want to follow along with this tutorial, please download the example spreadsheet.

Description

The Excel ISERROR function is used to test if an initial supplied expression or value returns an Excel error, and if so, it returns TRUR, otherwise, returns FALSE.

Excel error including: #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME?, #NULL!.

Syntax and arguments

Formula syntax

Arguments

Return Value

The ISERROR function returns a logical value TRUE or FALSE.

Version

Excel 2003 and later versions

Usage and Examples

Example1: Basic Usage

To check if the values in range B4:B8 are errors, you can use the ISERROR function as below: Select a cell to place the checking result, and type the formula as this:

=ISERROR(B4)

Press Enter key, and then drag the auto-fill handle down to get all results.

Example2: Combine with IF function

The ISERROR function is usually used to combine with IF function to test a value if an error and display a custom text, or run a different calculation while an error occurs.

Supposing in range B12:B16, there are some data including Excel errors, you want to check if the cells are error values, if so, show “error”, otherwise, show the original data.

Select a cell to place the checking result, and type the formula as this:

=IF(ISERROR(B12),"error",B12)

Press Enter key, and then drag the auto-fill handle down to get all results.

Excel ISERROR function vs Excel ISERR function

ISERROR function returns TRUE if the supplied value is an error.

ISERR function returns TRUE if the supplied value is any error except the #N/A error.

Relative Functions:

• Excel CELL Function
  The CELL function returns the requested information about a specified cell, such as the cell’s location, contents, formatting, and more.

• Excel ISEER Function
  The ISERR function returns TRUE for any error type (except #N/A) and FALSE otherwise.

• Excel ERROR.TYPE Function
  The ERROR.TYPE function returns a number that corresponds to a specific error value. If no error exists, ERROR.TYPE returns the #N/A error.

• Excel ISREF Function
  The ISREF function checks whether a given value is a reference. If the given value is a reference, it returns TRUE. Otherwise, it returns FALSE.