Excel ISTEXT Function — How to Use It (with 3 Examples)

Contents

What does ISTEXT do?

ISTEXT returns TRUE if a value is text, and FALSE for numbers, blanks, or errors.

It is useful for validating that a field genuinely contains text before running text-only functions like LEFT or UPPER on it.

=ISTEXT(value)

Argument	Description
value required	The value or cell to test.

Example 1

Check if a cell contains text

=ISTEXT(A2)

Returns TRUE if A2 holds text, FALSE if it holds a number or is blank.

Example 2

Validate before a text operation

=IF(ISTEXT(A2),UPPER(A2),"Not text")

Only applies UPPER if A2 genuinely contains text, avoiding unexpected results on numeric cells.

Example 3

Flag a number accidentally typed as text

=ISTEXT(A2)

If A2 should hold a number but ISTEXT returns TRUE, the value was likely typed or imported with a leading apostrophe or as a text-formatted cell.

⚠️ Assuming blank cells return FALSE for both ISTEXT and ISNUMBER

This is actually correct behavior — a blank cell is neither text nor a number, so both functions return FALSE on it.

Does ISTEXT consider an empty string "" as text?

Yes — a cell containing a formula that evaluates to "" is considered text by ISTEXT.

ExcelPro has 700+ hands-on Excel exercises across 7 career tracks — free to start, no download needed.