They are not equivalent. The first will execute the block following the if statement if myVar is truthy (i.e. evaluates to true in a conditional), while the second will execute the block if myVar is any value other than null.

The only values that are not truthy in JavaScript are the following (a.k.a. falsy values):

  • null
  • undefined
  • 0
  • "" (the empty string)
  • false
  • NaN
Answer from Tim Down on Stack Overflow
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 - Example: In this example we are using typeof operator with !== undefined and !== null checks if a variable is not null in JavaScript.
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 ...
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1 of 16
5790

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
462

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
Bobby Hadz
bobbyhadz.com โ€บ blog โ€บ javascript-check-if-variable-is-not-null
Check if a Variable is Not NULL in JavaScript | bobbyhadz
Copied!const a = 'hello'; if (a) { console.log(`๐Ÿšจ a is NOT false, 0, empty string, null, undefined, NaN`); } else { console.log(`โ›”๏ธ๏ธ a is ONE OF false, 0, empty string, null, undefined, NaN`); } In this example, we check if the value stored in the variable a is truthy. Truthy are all values that are not falsy. The falsy values in JavaScript are: false, 0, "", null, undefined, NaN.
๐ŸŒ
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org โ€บ news โ€บ how-to-check-for-null-in-javascript
JS Check for Null โ€“ Null Checking in JavaScript Explained
November 7, 2024 - But, this can be tricky because if the variable is undefined, it will also return true because both null and undefined are loosely equal. let firstName = null; let lastName; console.log(firstName == null); // true console.log(lastName == null); // true console.log(firstName == undefined); // true console.log(lastName == undefined); // true console.log(firstName == lastName); // true console.log(null == undefined); // true ยท Note: This can be useful when you want to check if a variable has no value because when a variable has no value, it can either be null or undefined.
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Stack Abuse
stackabuse.com โ€บ javascript-check-if-variable-is-a-undefined-or-null
JavaScript: Check if Variable is undefined or null
March 29, 2023 - In this short guide, we've taken a look at how to check if a variable is null, undefined or nil in JavaScript, using the ==, === and typeof operators, noting the pros and cons of each approach.
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DEV Community
dev.to โ€บ wolfhoundjesse โ€บ null-checking-in-javascript-lc4
Null-checking in JavaScript - DEV Community
April 11, 2019 - 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. ... Polyglot, autodidact. OSS author and contributor. Addicted to writing code, seeking my next 'fix'. Love communicating with an audience whose eyes don't glaze over when I get to the 'good parts'. ... Never use null unless you're trying to express an actual null value. Checking for !variable is usually a sufficient check for undefined unless the variable is boolean.
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Delft Stack
delftstack.com โ€บ home โ€บ howto โ€บ javascript โ€บ javascript if not null
How to Check if a Variable Is Not Null in JavaScript | Delft Stack
February 26, 2025 - The logical NOT operator can be a powerful tool when checking for null values. By negating the variable, you can create a condition that checks if the variable is truthy, which includes checking for null, undefined, and other falsy values.
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TutorialsPoint
tutorialspoint.com โ€บ How-to-check-for-null-undefined-or-blank-variables-in-JavaScript
How to check for null, undefined, or blank variables in JavaScript?
Below, users can see that value ... blank variable is identical to Null variable which doesn't contains any value. In this method, we will use the strict equality operator to check whether a variable is null, empty, or undefined. If we don't assign the value to the variable while ...
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Codedamn
codedamn.com โ€บ news โ€บ javascript
How to check if value is undefined or null in JavaScript
June 8, 2023 - If you want to check if a value is specifically undefined or null without type coercion, you can use the identity operator (===). The identity operator checks for both value and type equality, which means it does not perform type coercion.
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Tutorial Republic
tutorialrepublic.com โ€บ faq โ€บ how-to-determine-if-variable-is-undefined-or-null-in-javascript.php
How to Determine If Variable is Undefined or NULL in JavaScript
<script> var firstName; var lastName = null; // Try to get non existing DOM element var comment = document.getElementById('comment'); console.log(firstName); // Print: undefined console.log(lastName); // Print: null console.log(comment); // Print: null console.log(typeof firstName); // Print: undefined console.log(typeof lastName); // Print: object console.log(typeof comment); // Print: object console.log(null == undefined) // Print: true console.log(null === undefined) // Print: false /* Since null == undefined is true, the following statements will catch both null and undefined */ if(firstNa
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Programiz
programiz.com โ€บ javascript โ€บ examples โ€บ check-undefined-null
JavaScript Program To Check If A Variable Is undefined or null
... // program to check if a variable is undefined or null function checkVariable(variable) { if( typeof variable === 'undefined' || variable === null ) { console.log('The variable is undefined or null'); } else { console.log('The variable is neither undefined nor null'); } } let newVariable; ...
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CoreUI
coreui.io โ€บ answers โ€บ how-to-check-if-a-variable-is-null-in-javascript
How to check if a variable is null in JavaScript ยท CoreUI
November 6, 2025 - Use strict equality === null to check specifically for null values without matching other falsy values.
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ javascript โ€บ how-to-check-for-null-undefined-or-blank-variables-in-javascript
How to check for null, undefined or blank Variables in JavaScript ? - GeeksforGeeks
May 7, 2023 - One of the most common is to use the triple equals (===) operator, which checks for both value and type equality. ... Undefined: A variable that is undefined has not been assigned ...
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Coderanch
coderanch.com โ€บ t โ€บ 734748 โ€บ languages โ€บ check-variable-null-JavaScript
Is there a better way to check if variable is null value or not in JavaScript? (Server-Side JavaScript and NodeJS forum at Coderanch)
It's possible to assign certain ... on what a represents and what you want your application to do with it: 1) Check that a is exactly null: if (a === null) { 2) Check that a is similar to null: if (a == null) { 3) Check that a is falsey: if (!a) { The most common approach ...