How To Test If A Sheet Exists

Example

=ISREF(INDIRECT(“‘”&B3&”‘!A1”))

Generic Formula

=ISREF(INDIRECT(“‘”&SheetName&”‘!A1”))

SheetName – This is the text which you want to test if it exists as a worksheet in the current workbook.

What It Does

This formula will test if a sheet exists in the current workbook and return TRUE if the sheet exists or FALSE if it does not exist.

How It Works

“‘”&SheetName&”‘!A1” will create a text reference to cell A1 in a sheet with the name SheetName. In our example “‘”&”My Sheet”&”‘!A1” creates the text string ‘My Sheet’!A1 which references cell A1 in sheet ‘My Sheet’ if it exists. INDIRECT will then return a reference specified by this text string. ISREF will then return TRUE if this is a valid reference and will return FALSE if it’s not a valid reference because the sheet doesn’t exist.

About the Author

John MacDougall

John is a Microsoft MVP and qualified actuary with over 15 years of experience. He has worked in a variety of industries, including insurance, ad tech, and most recently Power Platform consulting. He is a keen problem solver and has a passion for using technology to make businesses more efficient.