About the ISURL Function
Overview of ISURL
| Check if a Value is a Valid URLGoogle Sheets Function | ||
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=ISURL( value ) Summary The ISURL function checks whether a specified value is a valid URL and returns TRUE or FALSE. |
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When to Use ISURL
- To confirm whether a cell value is a valid URL.
- To identify links from a list or dataset.
- To ensure entered data is not incorrect.
How to Use ISURL
The following table explains the basic usage of the ISURL function.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value | Validation |
| 2 | https://example.com | =ISURL(A2) |
| 3 | www.example.com | =ISURL(A3) |
| 4 | example | =ISURL(A4) |
Results
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value | Validation |
| 2 | https://example.com | TRUE |
| 3 | www.example.com | FALSE |
| 4 | example | FALSE |
Advanced Examples
Example 1: Filter Only Valid URLs
This example demonstrates how to extract only valid URLs from a list.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value | Is it a valid URL? |
| 2 | https://example.com | TRUE |
| 3 | www.example.com | FALSE |
| 4 | example | FALSE |
| 5 | https://google.com | TRUE |
=FILTER(A2:A5, ISURL(A2:A5))
Result
- Only valid URLs (https://example.com and https://google.com) are extracted.
Points to Note
- ISURL requires the value to be in “complete URL format” (e.g., must include https://).
- Formats like “www.example.com” are not recognized as URLs, so the result will be FALSE.
- While ISURL checks URL validity, it does not verify the existence of the URL.
Conclusion
- The ISURL function is a handy tool for determining if a cell value is a valid URL.
- It requires a complete URL format and does not verify the existence of the link.
- Ideal for data validation and link filtering tasks.