Excel ISNUMBER Function

Summary

The Excel ISNUMBER function returns TRUE when a cell contains a number, and FALSE if not. You can use ISNUMBER to check that a cell contains a numeric value, or that the result of another function is a number.

Purpose

Test for numeric value

Return value

A logical value (TRUE or FALSE)

Syntax

=ISNUMBER (value)

Arguments

value - The value to check.

Usage notes

Use the ISNUMBER function to check if a value is a number. ISNUMBER will return TRUE when value is numeric and FALSE when not.

For example, =ISNUMBER(A1) will return TRUE if A1 contains a number or a formula that returns a numeric value. If A1 contains text, ISNUMBER will return FALSE.

Notes

Typically, value is supplied as a cell address, but you can wrap other functions and formulas inside ISNUMBER to test the result.
ISNUMBER will return TRUE for Excel dates and times since they are numeric, and FALSE for numbers entered as text.
ISNUMBER is part of a group of functions called the IS functions.