check if a state variable is null, undefined, or empty, use the logical OR (||) operator along with nullish coalescing operator (??)

  const [fleetOwner, setFleetOwner] = useState({ id: '', name: '' });
    
    if (!fleetOwner?.id) {
    }
Answer from Hasan Raza on Stack Overflow
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Coding Beauty
codingbeautydev.com โ€บ home โ€บ posts โ€บ how to check if a variable is null or undefined in react
How to Check if a Variable is Null or Undefined in React
October 4, 2023 - To check if a variable in null or undefined in React, use the || operator to check if the variable is equal to null or equal to undefined. JavaScriptCopied!
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Bobby Hadz
bobbyhadz.com โ€บ blog โ€บ react-null-or-undefined-check
Check if a Variable is Null or Undefined in React | bobbyhadz
To check if a variable is null or undefined in React, use the || (or) operator to check if either of the two conditions is met.
People also ask

Is null false in JavaScript?
Null is not considered false in JavaScript, but it is considered falsy. This means that null is treated as if itโ€™s false when viewed through boolean logic. However, this is not the same thing as saying null is false or untrue.
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builtin.com
builtin.com โ€บ software-engineering-perspectives โ€บ javascript-null-check
How to Check for Null in JavaScript | Built In
What is a strict null check?
StrictNullChecks is a feature that treats null and undefined as two separate types, reducing errors and making it easier to find coding bugs. It also has stronger measures for defining variables as null or undefined, ensuring variables are declared as null only when itโ€™s safe to do so.
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builtin.com
builtin.com โ€บ software-engineering-perspectives โ€บ javascript-null-check
How to Check for Null in JavaScript | Built In
What is a null check?
In JavaScript, null represents an intentional absence of a value, indicating that a variable has been declared with a null value on purpose. On the other hand, undefined represents the absence of any object value that is unintentional. A null check determines whether a variable has a null value, meaning a valid instance of a type exists.
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builtin.com
builtin.com โ€บ software-engineering-perspectives โ€บ javascript-null-check
How to Check for Null in JavaScript | Built In
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Built In
builtin.com โ€บ software-engineering-perspectives โ€บ javascript-null-check
How to Check for Null in JavaScript | Built In
Again, that means that you will need to explicitly check for both null and undefined if you are using Object.is(), which is the helper method checking for changes in state under the hood in React. The following methods do not directly check for null. Instead, they determine factors like falsiness or whether two values are the same.
Published ย  August 4, 2025
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STechies
stechies.com โ€บ check-variable-undefined-null
How to Check if the Variable is undefined or null in Javascript
In JavaScript, undefined and null ... check whether they are dealing with the undefined or null variable using the OR operator (||) with == and === operators....
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YouTube
youtube.com โ€บ watch
How to Check for Undefined or Null in JavaScript (2025) - YouTube
โ“ Learn How to Check if a Value is Undefined or Null in JavaScript | Easy & Effective Methods (2025 Tutorial)Handling undefined and null values correctly is ...
Published ย  June 18, 2025
Find elsewhere
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Rampatra
blog.rampatra.com โ€บ null-vs-undefined-in-typescript-or-javascript-how-to-check-for-both-at-once
!== null vs !== undefined in Typescript or Javascript, how to check for both at once?
You want to check for both null and undefined together, since null and undefined are considered equal in loose equality (==). Commonly used when you donโ€™t care about the specific type of โ€œempty.โ€ ยท if (value != null) { // Do something if value is not null or undefined }
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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
To check that a value is not an empty string, null, or undefined, you can create a custom function that returns true if a value is null, undefined, or an empty string and false for all other falsy values and truthy values:
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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.
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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 - The easiest way to check if a value is either undefined or null is by using the equality operator (==). The equality operator performs type coercion, which means it converts the operands to the same type before making the comparison.
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);
  }
});
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Futurestud.io
futurestud.io โ€บ tutorials โ€บ check-if-a-value-is-null-or-undefined-in-javascript-or-node-js
Check if a Value Is Null or Undefined in JavaScript or Node.js
You can create a utility method checking whether a given input is null and undefined. Hereโ€™s a sample function that you may copy to your project and is it to check for empty values: /** * Determine whether the given `value` is `null` or `undefined`. * * @param {*} value * * @returns {Boolean} */ function isNullOrUndefined (value) { return value == null // `value == null` is the same as `value === undefined || value === null` }
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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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Quora
quora.com โ€บ How-do-I-check-if-it-is-null-in-React-Native
How to check if it is null in React Native - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): Dude this is over ... to me. Hope this helps. There are two options you can use. the && operator and If statement to check if the props exist....
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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; ...