Why Do Blank Cells Show as Zero in Excel? When referencing a blank cell, Microsoft Excel often returns zero instead of leaving it empty. Excel treats blank cells as zeros by default because it assumes you want to perform mathematical operations. This behavior can be useful in some cases, but it can also cause issues when you need to distinguish between zero values and truly blank cells. Here are the… Read More »How to Display Blank When Referencing Blank Cells in Excel (7 Methods)