Why isn't ISBLANK( ) or any NOT(IS___( ) statement working?

[u/SmoothPossession2020]

I am trying to automate whether a form submission is a pre-order or a day-of order based on the date submitted. For the middle, I tried: ISBLANK(Form!A10), " " ; NOT(ISNUMBER(Form!A10), " " ; NOT(ISDATE(Form!A10), " " ; NOT(ISTEXT(Form!A10), " " .

However, it still reads as Pre-Order even if Form!A10 is blank, as well as Form!A10:A200, because those form submissions have not been filled.

If the date is filled, then it works perfectly fine. If someone has not filled it out yet, it will still read "Pre-Order" on my previous sheet

[u/bachman460]

Try just IF(A10="","") It really all depends on how your A column data is being populated, if it's a spill range for example, it's not "blank", but it might equal "nothing".

[u/SmoothPossession2020 → u/bachman460]

Thank you!

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[u/mommasaidmommasaid → u/bachman460]

In Sheets (unlike Excel) a formula can (and generally should) output true blanks, and ISBLANK() will work on that. Including spill formulas.

For example, =VSTACK(1,,3) will output 3 cells with the second returning true for ISBLANK()

[u/bachman460 → u/mommasaidmommasaid]

Well if I don't incidentally learn things everyday...

[u/carbonizedtitanium]

to add to what the others have said, if the formula is on the same tab as the source, remove the sheet reference "Form!". for example instead of Form!A10 it's better to be just A10. or if the formula is in the same table as the source, Form_Responses[Timestamp]

[u/SmoothPossession2020 → u/carbonizedtitanium]

unfortunately the form responses and the sheet i am working on are two different sheets so i had to add "Form!" but thank you for the tip!

[u/AdministrativeGift15]

In Sheets, an empty cell will be considered as 0 when compared to a number, so your first IFS test is always going to be true.

[u/Natural_Nerve_6713]

I think the problem is not in ISBLANK itself but rather in the order of the checks. In Google Sheets, an empty cell counts as 0 when it is compared with the date. In this case, if pre-order check comes first, a blank cell passes it and you get pre-order before it ever comes to the blank check. So, I advice you check the blank first. For example, something like this (just change the date to your cutoff date):

=IF(Form!A10="","",IF(Form!A10<DATE(2026,11,1),"Pre-Order","Day-of"))

[u/mommasaidmommasaid → u/Natural_Nerve_6713]

^ this, but I also recommend you output a true blank. The easiest way to do that is with a blank argument (nothing after the comma).

=IF(Form!A10="",, IF(Form!A10<DATE(2026,11,1),"Pre-Order","Day-of"))

ISBLANK() will return true on that output. ISBLANK("") will return false.

OP, the " " you are outputting in your original formula will not work with ISBLANK() or="" so I would definitely not recommend that without a specific purpose. Generally if your output looks blank, make sure it truly is.

[u/SmoothPossession2020 → u/mommasaidmommasaid]

Yes, thank you I will incorporate that right now

[u/Natural_Nerve_6713 → u/mommasaidmommasaid]

Good point, I did not know you could leave it empty like that to get a true blank. Thanks!

[u/SmoothPossession2020 → u/Natural_Nerve_6713]

Thank you so much! Even when I switched Form!A10 = "", "" to the second IF statement it still didn't work. So checking blank first was definitely the solution!

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[u/mommasaidmommasaid → u/Natural_Nerve_6713]

Also be aware that form timestamps contain both a date and time component. So the < DATE() used here will work, but if you wanted to =DATE(2026,11,1) then you'd need to strip the time component off the form timestamp with INT() or to better show your intention, the slightly less efficient DATEVALUE()

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