Beginner

186. IS NOT NULL

Learn how to identify rows where a column contains a value instead of NULL.

📘 Lesson 186 of 728 ⏱ 8 min 🎯 Beginner

IS NOT NULL checks whether a column or expression contains a non-NULL value.

Analysts often need to work only with complete records or identify which records contain required information.

Find employees who have a manager assigned.

SQL 
SELECT
    EmployeeName,
    ManagerID
FROM Employees
WHERE ManagerID IS NOT NULL;

IS NOT NULL is useful for data completeness checks, reporting, validation, and filtering usable records.

  • IS NOT NULL identifies non-NULL values.
  • It is the opposite of IS NULL.
  • It is useful for completeness checks.
  • It does not treat empty strings as NULL automatically.
  • It is commonly used in data-quality analysis.
What does IS NOT NULL do?

It returns rows where the specified expression contains a non-NULL value.

Why use IS NOT NULL?

It helps identify records where required or available information has been populated.

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