How to Use ISTEXT in Excel: Check if a Cell Contains Text

Use the ISTEXT function in Excel to check if a cell contains text. It returns TRUE if the cell has text and FALSE if it contains numbers, dates, or is empty.

Syntax

The ISTEXT function has a simple syntax with one argument:

• value: The cell or value you want to check if it is text.

It returns TRUE if the value is text, otherwise FALSE.

excel

ISTEXT(value)

Example

This example shows how ISTEXT works with different cell values:

excel

A1: Hello
A2: 123
A3: =ISTEXT(A1)
A4: =ISTEXT(A2)

Output

A3: TRUE
A4: FALSE

Common Pitfalls

People often expect ISTEXT to return TRUE for numbers stored as text or formulas that return numbers, but it only returns TRUE for actual text values.

Also, empty cells or errors return FALSE.

excel

Wrong: =ISTEXT(123)  // returns FALSE because 123 is a number
Right: =ISTEXT("123")  // returns TRUE because "123" is text

Quick Reference

Input Type	ISTEXT Result
Text (e.g., "Hello")	TRUE
Number (e.g., 123)	FALSE
Date (e.g., 1/1/2024)	FALSE
Empty Cell	FALSE
Formula returning text	TRUE
Formula returning number	FALSE

Key Takeaways

ISTEXT returns TRUE only if the cell contains text, not numbers or dates.

Use ISTEXT to check cell content type before applying text-specific formulas.

ISTEXT returns FALSE for empty cells and errors.

Numbers stored as text (with quotes) return TRUE, but plain numbers do not.

Combine ISTEXT with IF to create conditional logic based on text presence.