StringUtils.isBlank() checks that each character of the string is a whitespace character (or that the string is empty or that it's null). This is totally different than just checking if the string is empty.

From the linked documentation:

Checks if a String is whitespace, empty ("") or null.

 StringUtils.isBlank(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isBlank("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank(" ")       = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isBlank("  bob  ") = false

For comparison StringUtils.isEmpty:

 StringUtils.isEmpty(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isEmpty("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isEmpty(" ")       = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("  bob  ") = false

Warning: In java.lang.String.isBlank() and java.lang.String.isEmpty() work the same except they don't return true for null.

java.lang.String.isBlank() (since Java 11)

java.lang.String.isEmpty()

Answer from arshajii on Stack Overflow
🌐
Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 23419087 › stringutils-isblank-vs-string-isempty
java - StringUtils.isBlank() vs String.isEmpty() - Stack Overflow
Top answer
1 of 14
707

StringUtils.isBlank() checks that each character of the string is a whitespace character (or that the string is empty or that it's null). This is totally different than just checking if the string is empty.

From the linked documentation:

Checks if a String is whitespace, empty ("") or null.

 StringUtils.isBlank(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isBlank("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank(" ")       = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isBlank("  bob  ") = false

For comparison StringUtils.isEmpty:

 StringUtils.isEmpty(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isEmpty("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isEmpty(" ")       = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("  bob  ") = false

Warning: In java.lang.String.isBlank() and java.lang.String.isEmpty() work the same except they don't return true for null.

java.lang.String.isBlank() (since Java 11)

java.lang.String.isEmpty()

2 of 14
168

The accepted answer from @arshajii is totally correct. However just being more explicit by saying below,

StringUtils.isBlank() 

 StringUtils.isBlank(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isBlank("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank(" ")       = true  
 StringUtils.isBlank("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isBlank("  bob  ") = false

StringUtils.isEmpty

 StringUtils.isEmpty(null)      = true
 StringUtils.isEmpty("")        = true  
 StringUtils.isEmpty(" ")       = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("bob")     = false  
 StringUtils.isEmpty("  bob  ") = false
🌐
Baeldung
baeldung.com › home › java › java string › checking for empty or blank strings in java
Checking for Empty or Blank Strings in Java | Baeldung
January 8, 2024 - Like Guava, it won’t check if a string only contains whitespace but checks whether a given string is null or empty. There are several ways to check whether a string is empty or not. Often, we also want to check if a string is blank, meaning that it consists of only whitespace characters. The most convenient way is to use Apache Commons Lang, which provides helpers such as StringUtils.isBlank. If we want to stick to plain Java, we can use a combination of String#trim with either String#isEmpty or String#length.
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medium.com › @lp.lok.payu › isempty-vs-empty-vs-isblank-vs-isnull-12aea580fe4b
isEmpty() vs empty() vs isBlank() vs isNull() | by leela prasad | Medium
February 16, 2025 - String str = " "; if (str.isBlank()) { System.out.println("String is blank"); } Checks if the value is null, empty, or contains only whitespace characters. ... Returns true if the string is null, empty, or only whitespace.
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Vultr Docs
docs.vultr.com › java › examples › check-if-a-string-is-empty-or-null
Java Program to Check if a String is Empty or Null | Vultr Docs
December 17, 2024 - Here, StringUtils.isBlank() checks if str is null, empty, or made solely of whitespace (spaces, tabs, new line characters). Very useful when the mere presence of whitespace should also classify the string as "empty".
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › java › java-string-isblank-method
Java String isBlank() Method - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - Returns false, if the string contains non-whitespace characters. Example 2: This example demonstrates how to distinguish between an empty string ("") and a string that contains only whitespace characters.
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Baeldung
baeldung.com › home › java › java string › difference between string isempty() and isblank()
Difference Between String isEmpty() and isBlank() | Baeldung
December 2, 2025 - The above table summarizes that if the String doesn’t contain any character, both methods return true. Additionally, the escape sequences \t, \n, \r, \f, and \s are considered whitespace characters, so only isBlank() returns true. In contrast, isEmpty() returns false for all of them. Finally, for any other character different from the ones shown in the table, both methods return false. Before Java 11, developers typically used the combination of String.trim() and String.isEmpty() to validate that a text contains only whitespace characters.
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Educative
educative.io › answers › what-is-stringutilsisblank-in-java
What is StringUtils.isBlank in Java?
If a string satisfies any of the criteria below, then the string is considered to be blank: The length of the string is zero or the string is empty. The string points to a null reference.
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CodeGym
codegym.cc › java blog › strings in java › java: check if string is null, empty or blank
Java: Check if String is Null, Empty or Blank
October 11, 2023 - The String = Is the String null? false Is the String empty? true The String = Lubaina Khan · “A “blank” String in Java is equal to a String with one or multiple spaces.” As mentioned before, a “blank” String is different from a scenario where a String is null or empty.
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Stack Abuse
stackabuse.com › java-check-if-string-is-null-empty-or-blank
Java: Check if String is Null, Empty or Blank
February 28, 2023 - String string = "Hello there"; if (string == null || string.equals("") || string.trim().equals("")) System.out.println("String is null, empty or blank"); else System.out.println("String is neither null, empty nor blank"); In much the same fashion as the before, if the trimmed string is "", it was either empty from the get-go, or was a blank string with 0..n whitespaces: ... The Apache Commons is a popular Java library that provides further functionality.
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Tutorialspoint
tutorialspoint.com › home › java/lang › java string isblank method
Java String isBlank Method
September 1, 2008 - The given string is: TutorialsPoint The string length is: 14 The isBlank() method returns: false The string is not a blank string. If the given string value is a null, this method throws a NullPointerException.
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Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 14721397 › checking-if-a-string-is-empty-or-null-in-java
Checking if a string is empty or null in Java - Stack Overflow
Top answer
1 of 5
636

Correct way to check for null or empty or string containing only spaces is like this:

if(str != null && !str.trim().isEmpty()) { /* do your stuffs here */ }
2 of 5
433

You can leverage Apache Commons StringUtils.isEmpty(str), which checks for empty strings and handles null gracefully.

Example:

System.out.println(StringUtils.isEmpty("")); // true
System.out.println(StringUtils.isEmpty(null)); // true

Google Guava also provides a similar, probably easier-to-read method: Strings.isNullOrEmpty(str).

Example:

System.out.println(Strings.isNullOrEmpty("")); // true
System.out.println(Strings.isNullOrEmpty(null)); // true
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/askprogramming › in java, should i use (string ) isempty() or isblank() when checking an xml object for an empty value?
r/AskProgramming on Reddit: In Java, should I use (String ) isEmpty() or isBlank() when checking an XML object for an empty value?
September 26, 2022 -

I have some config file and it is deployed in many regions. Some regions have certain requirements for example lets say one region needed a username and password (basic auth). The current setup is that each deployment has it's own config file and only the instances where it is needed are these values included in the respective config.xml file.

So I have in my Java code some logic that says

'if this element is in the XML, set the corresponding variable with its value, if not do nothing'

So when I'm trying to see if that value is present or if the tag is empty/blank, which String utility should I use to check?

example code (default option left open as empty string):

if (my_config.getString(USER_ID_ELEMENT, "") != null
    & my_config.getString(PASSWORD_ELEMENT, "") != null) {
		my_userId = m_config.getString(USER_ID_ELEMENT, "");
		my_password = m_config.getString(PASSWORD_ELEMENT, "");

Here I'm checking if it is not null, but I don't think it's a very good test since I don't know if an empty XML tag is blank or is empty (i think null isn't even an option)?

Top answer
1 of 2
2
What behavior do you want if the xml parser emits " " as the config value?
2 of 2
2
Blank and empty are not the same thing. Empty means "" and only "". Blank means "", " ", " ", and so on. Which you use depends on your use case, but usually its safest to go with isBlank combined with a null check.
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BeginnersBook
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Check if String is Null, Empty or Blank in Java
Simply compare the string with null to check for null string. Use isEmpty() method of string class to check for empty string. The isEmpty() method returns true if the string does not contain any value. Use trim() and isEmpty() method together to check for blank string.
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HowToDoInJava
howtodoinjava.com › home › java 11 › java string isblank() – check blank or empty string
Java String isBlank() - Check Blank or Empty String
December 12, 2022 - The isBlank() method has been added in Java 11. To check if a given string does not have even blank spaces, use String.isEmpty() method. It returns true if the given string is empty or contains only white space code points, otherwise false.
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medium.com › @AlexanderObregon › javas-string-isblank-method-explained-be7064a144a7
Java’s String.isBlank() Method Explained | Medium
January 10, 2025 - This often resulted in repetitive code that was harder to read and maintain. With isBlank(), these checks are more direct. Consider the traditional way of validating a string for meaningful content: if (input == null || input.trim().isEmpty()) { System.out.println("Invalid input"); }
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Java Program to Check if a String is Empty or Null
This is because white spaces are treated as characters in Java and the string with white spaces is a regular string. Now, if we want the program to consider strings with white spaces as empty strings, we can use the trim() method. The method removes all the white spaces present in a string. ...
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Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 51299126 › difference-between-isempty-and-isblank-method-in-java-11
string - Difference between isEmpty() and isBlank() Method in java 11 - Stack Overflow
Top answer
1 of 5
53

isEmpty()

The java string isEmpty() method checks if this string is empty. It returns true, if the length of the string is 0 otherwise false e.g. 

System.out.println("".isEmpty()); // Prints - True
System.out.println(" ".isEmpty()); //Prints - False

Java 11 - isBlank()

The new instance method java.lang.String.isBlank() returns true if the string is empty or contains only white space, where whitespace is defined as any codepoint that returns true when passed to Character#isWhitespace(int).

boolean blank = string.isBlank();

Before Java 11 

boolean blank = string.trim().isEmpty();

After Java 11 

boolean blank = string.isBlank();
2 of 5
5

The difference is as below :-

isBlank() returns true for the string having only white space characters whereas isEmpty() will return false for such strings.

("\n\r  ").isBlank();  //returns true
("\n\r  ").isEmpty();  //returns false

For detailed explanation with Code Example visit : isBlank() vs isEmpty() in String class Java

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TestMu AI Community
community.testmuai.com › ask a question
Best Way to Check if a String is Null or Empty in Java - TestMu AI Community
March 19, 2025 - What is the best way to check if a String is null or empty in Java? I’m currently parsing HTML data, and sometimes the String can be null or empty when the expected word doesn’t match. To handle this, I wrote the following check: if(string.equals(null) || string.equals("")){ Log.d("iftrue", "seem to be true"); }else{ Log.d("iffalse", "seem to be false"); } However, when I remove string.equals(""), the condition doesn’t work correctly.
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iO Flood
ioflood.com › blog › stringutils-isempty
StringUtils.isEmpty() in Java: Your Method Guide
March 27, 2024 - At its core, StringUtils.isEmpty is a simple yet powerful tool in Java for checking if a string is empty or null.
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O'Reilly
oreilly.com › library › view › jakarta-commons-cookbook › 059600706X › ch02s03.html
2.2. Checking for an Empty String - Jakarta Commons Cookbook [Book]
November 16, 2004 - You need to test for an empty or null string. Use StringUtils.isBlank() . This method will return true if it is supplied with an empty, zero length, or whitespace-only string. This method gracefully handles a null input by returning true.
Author   Timothy M. O'Brien
Published   2004
Pages   400
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