You can just check if the variable has a truthy value or not. That means

if (value) {
    // do something..
}

will evaluate to true if value is not:

  • null
  • undefined
  • NaN
  • empty string ("")
  • 0
  • false

The above list represents all possible falsy values in ECMA-/Javascript. Find it in the specification at the ToBoolean section.

Furthermore, if you do not know whether a variable exists (that means, if it was declared) you should check with the typeof operator. For instance

if (typeof foo !== 'undefined') {
    // foo could get resolved and it's defined
}

If you can be sure that a variable is declared at least, you should directly check if it has a truthy value like shown above.

Answer from jAndy on Stack Overflow
Top answer
1 of 16
5789

You can just check if the variable has a truthy value or not. That means

if (value) {
    // do something..
}

will evaluate to true if value is not:

  • null
  • undefined
  • NaN
  • empty string ("")
  • 0
  • false

The above list represents all possible falsy values in ECMA-/Javascript. Find it in the specification at the ToBoolean section.

Furthermore, if you do not know whether a variable exists (that means, if it was declared) you should check with the typeof operator. For instance

if (typeof foo !== 'undefined') {
    // foo could get resolved and it's defined
}

If you can be sure that a variable is declared at least, you should directly check if it has a truthy value like shown above.

2 of 16
457

This question has two interpretations:

Check if the variable has a value
Check if the variable has a truthy value

The following answers both.

In JavaScript, a value could be nullish or not nullish, and a value could be falsy or truthy.
Nullish values are a proper subset of falsy values:

 โ•ญโ”€ nullish โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฎ โ•ญโ”€ not nullish โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฎ
โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ undefined โ”‚ null โ”‚ false โ”‚ 0 โ”‚ "" โ”‚ ... โ”‚ true โ”‚ 1 โ”‚ "hello" โ”‚ ... โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜
 โ•ฐโ”€ falsy โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฏ โ•ฐโ”€ truthy โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฏ

Check if value is nullish (undefined or null)

Use one of the following depending on your coding style:

if (value == null)                         { /* value is nullish */ }
if (value === undefined || value === null) { /* value is nullish */ }
if (value == undefined)                    { /* value is nullish */ }
if ((value ?? null) === null)              { /* value is nullish */ }

Notes:

  • The == operator works because it has a special case for null vs undefined comparison
  • The === operator is more readable (opinion based), eqeqeq friendly and allows checking for undefined and null separately
  • The first and third examples work identically, however the third one is rarely seen in production code
  • The fourth example uses nullish coalescing operator to change nullish values to null for straight forward comparison

Check if value is not nullish

if (value != null)                         { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }
if (value !== undefined && value !== null) { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }
if (value != undefined)                    { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }
if ((value ?? null) !== null)              { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }

Check if value is falsy

Use the ! operator:

if (!value) { /* value is falsy */ }

Check if value is truthy

if (value) { /* value is truthy */ }

Data validation

The nullish, falsy and truthy checks cannot be used for data validation on their own. For example, 0 (falsy) is valid age of a person and -1 (truthy) is not. Additional logic needs to be added on case-by-case basis. Some examples:

/*
 * check if value is greater than/equal to 0
 * note that we cannot use truthy check here because 0 must be allowed
 */
[null, -1, 0, 1].forEach(num => {
  if (num != null && num >= 0) {
    console.log("%o is not nullish and greater than/equal to 0", num);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", num);
  }
});

/*
 * check if value is not empty-or-whitespace string
 */
[null, "", " ", "hello"].forEach(str => {
  if (str && /\S/.test(str)) {
    console.log("%o is truthy and has non-whitespace characters", str);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", str);
  }
});

/*
 * check if value is not an empty array
 * check for truthy before checking the length property
 */
[null, [], [1]].forEach(arr => {
  if (arr && arr.length) {
    console.log("%o is truthy and has one or more items", arr);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", arr);
  }
});

/*
 * check if value is not an empty array
 * using optional chaining operator to make sure that the value is not nullish
 */
[null, [], [1]].forEach(arr => {
  if (arr?.length) {
    console.log("%o is not nullish and has one or more items", arr);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", arr);
  }
});
๐ŸŒ
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org โ€บ news โ€บ check-if-string-is-empty-or-null-javascript
How to Check if a String is Empty or Null in JavaScript โ€“ JS Tutorial
November 7, 2024 - In this example, we're first using the trim method to remove any leading or trailing whitespace characters from the str variable, then checking whether the resulting string has zero length. If it does, then we know that the string is empty. Otherwise, we know that the string is not empty. Here are some best practices to follow when checking for empty or null strings in JavaScript:
๐ŸŒ
Sentry
sentry.io โ€บ sentry answers โ€บ javascript โ€บ how do i check for an empty/undefined/null string in javascript?
How do I Check for an Empty/Undefined/Null String in JavaScript? | Sentry
This works because if one of the ... of the logical OR (||) operator is evaluated. To check for an empty string, the logical && operator is used....
๐ŸŒ
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org โ€บ news โ€บ javascript-check-empty-string-checking-null-or-empty-in-js
JavaScript Check Empty String โ€“ Checking Null or Empty in JS
November 7, 2024 - We can easily fix this error by first removing the white spaces using the trim() method before checking for the length of such string to see if itโ€™s empty as seen below: let myStr = " "; if (myStr.trim().length === 0) { console.log("This is an empty string!"); }else{ console.log("This is NOT an empty string!"); } ... Note: If the value is null, this will throw an error because the length property does not work for null.
๐ŸŒ
LogRocket
blog.logrocket.com โ€บ home โ€บ how to check for null, undefined, or empty values in javascript
How to check for null, undefined, or empty values in JavaScript - LogRocket Blog
February 14, 2025 - Learn how to write a null check function in JavaScript and explore the differences between the null and undefined attributes.
๐ŸŒ
Zipy
zipy.ai โ€บ blog โ€บ how-do-i-check-for-an-empty-undefined-null-string-in-javascript
how do i check for an empty undefined null string in javascript
April 12, 2024 - An empty string in JavaScript is represented by "" (a string with no characters). To check if a string is empty, you can use the strict equality operator (===) or the length property of the string.
๐ŸŒ
Medium
medium.com โ€บ @python-javascript-php-html-css โ€บ how-to-check-for-empty-undefined-or-null-strings-in-javascript-d8f0bf514ead
How to Use JavaScript to Check for Null, Empty, or Undefined Strings
August 24, 2024 - In the first script, we create a function called isStringEmpty that accepts a single parameter, value. This function returns true if the value is either undefined, null, or an empty string (โ€œโ€).
Find elsewhere
๐ŸŒ
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ javascript โ€บ how-to-check-empty-undefined-null-string-in-javascript
How to Check empty/undefined/null String in JavaScript? - ...
July 11, 2025 - // function to check string is empty or not function checking(str) { if(str.replace(/\s/g,"") == "") { console.log("Empty String") } else{ console.log("Not Empty String") } } checking(" "); checking("Hello Javascript");
๐ŸŒ
DEV Community
dev.to โ€บ wolfhoundjesse โ€บ null-checking-in-javascript-lc4
Null-checking in JavaScript - DEV Community
April 11, 2019 - const exists = value => value != null // checks for null and undefined. const isEmpty = value => value.length > 0 if (exists(tokenInfo) && !isEmpty(tokenInfo)) { ... } Now it's obvious that I'm checking whether tokenInfo is defined (and that means at this point it could be not), and whether it is empty. Then I can use the classic if (tokenInfo) for actual boolean checks only and avoid having to remember whether it is a boolean check or a truthy/falsy check.
Top answer
1 of 16
5110

Empty string, undefined, null, ...

To check for a truthy value:

if (strValue) {
    // strValue was non-empty string, true, 42, Infinity, [], ...
}

To check for a falsy value:

if (!strValue) {
    // strValue was empty string, false, 0, null, undefined, ...
}

Empty string (only!)

To check for exactly an empty string, compare for strict equality against "" using the === operator:

if (strValue === "") {
    // strValue was empty string
}

To check for not an empty string strictly, use the !== operator:

if (strValue !== "") {
    // strValue was not an empty string
}
2 of 16
1446

For checking if a variable is falsey or if it has length attribute equal to zero (which for a string, means it is empty), I use:

function isEmpty(str) {
    return (!str || str.length === 0 );
}

(Note that strings aren't the only variables with a length attribute, arrays have them as well, for example.)

Alternativaly, you can use the (not so) newly optional chaining and arrow functions to simplify:

const isEmpty = (str) => (!str?.length);

It will check the length, returning undefined in case of a nullish value, without throwing an error. In the case of an empty value, zero is falsy and the result is still valid.

For checking if a variable is falsey or if the string only contains whitespace or is empty, I use:

function isBlank(str) {
    return (!str || /^\s*$/.test(str));
}

If you want, you can monkey-patch the String prototype like this:

String.prototype.isEmpty = function() {
    // This doesn't work the same way as the isEmpty function used 
    // in the first example, it will return true for strings containing only whitespace
    return (this.length === 0 || !this.trim());
};
console.log("example".isEmpty());

Note that monkey-patching built-in types are controversial, as it can break code that depends on the existing structure of built-in types, for whatever reason.

๐ŸŒ
TutorialsPoint
tutorialspoint.com โ€บ how-to-check-empty-undefined-null-strings-in-javascript
How to check empty/undefined/null strings in JavaScript?
Here, we will compare our string with "", null, and undefined. Also, we will use the OR operator to use all three conditions together in the single if condition. If any one of the three conditions becomes true, that means the string is not valid. Users can follow the syntax below to use the strict equality operator to check whether the sting is empty, null, or undefined.
๐ŸŒ
Built In
builtin.com โ€บ software-engineering-perspectives โ€บ javascript-null-check
How to Check for Null in JavaScript | Built In
The value null is falsy, but empty objects are truthy, so typeof maybeNull === "object" && !maybeNull is an easy way to check to see that a value is not null. Finally, to check if a value has been declared and assigned a value that is neither null nor undefined, use typeof: typeof maybeUndeclared !== "undefined" && (typeof maybeUndeclared !== "object" || !maybeUndeclared) Now go out there and check for null with confidence. In JavaScript, null represents an intentional absence of a value, indicating that a variable has been declared with a null value on purpose.
Published ย  August 4, 2025
๐ŸŒ
W3docs
w3docs.com โ€บ javascript
How to Check for Empty/Undefined/Null String in JavaScript
let undefinedStr; if (!undefinedStr) { console.log("String is undefined"); } let emptyStr = ""; if (!emptyStr) { console.log("String is empty"); } let nullStr = null; if (!nullStr) { console.log("String is null"); } ... When the string is not null or undefined, and you intend to check for an empty one, you can use the length property of the string prototype, as follows: ... Another option is checking the empty string with the comparison operator โ€œ===โ€. ... The JavaScript strings are generally applied for either storing or manipulating text.
๐ŸŒ
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ javascript โ€บ how-to-check-if-a-variable-is-not-null-in-javascript
How to check if a Variable Is Not Null in JavaScript ? - GeeksforGeeks
August 5, 2025 - In JavaScript, checking if a variable is not null ensures that the variable has been assigned a value and is not empty or uninitialized.
Top answer
1 of 16
1093

JavaScript is very flexible with regards to checking for "null" values. I'm guessing you're actually looking for empty strings, in which case this simpler code will work:

if(!pass || !cpass || !email || !cemail || !user){

Which will check for empty strings (""), null, undefined, false and the numbers 0 and NaN.

Please note that if you are specifically checking for numbers, it is a common mistake to miss 0 with this method, and num !== 0 is preferred (or num !== -1 or ~num (hacky code that also checks against -1)) for functions that return -1, e.g. indexOf).

2 of 16
728

To check for null SPECIFICALLY you would use this:

if (variable === null)

This test will ONLY pass for null and will not pass for "", undefined, false, 0, or NaN.

Additionally, I've provided absolute checks for each "false-like" value (one that would return true for !variable).

Note, for some of the absolute checks, you will need to implement use of the absolutely equals: === and typeof.

I've created a JSFiddle here to show all of the individual tests working

Here is the output of each check:

Null Test:

if (variable === null)

- variable = ""; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (true) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



Empty String Test:

if (variable === '')

- variable = ''; (true) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number




Undefined Test:

if (typeof variable == "undefined")

-- or --

if (variable === undefined)

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (true) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



False Test:

if (variable === false)

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (true) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



Zero Test:

if (variable === 0)

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (true) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



NaN Test:

if (typeof variable == 'number' && !parseFloat(variable) && variable !== 0)

-- or --

if (isNaN(variable))

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (true) typeof variable = number

As you can see, it's a little more difficult to test against NaN;

๐ŸŒ
ThatSoftwareDude.com
thatsoftwaredude.com โ€บ content โ€บ 8774 โ€บ what-is-the-best-way-to-check-for-an-empty-string-in-javascript
The Best Way to Check for an Empty String in JavaScript - ThatSoftwareDude.com
August 23, 2024 - Discover the most efficient methods to check for an empty string in JavaScript. Learn best practices to ensure your code handles string validation effectively.