PostgreSQL IS NULL operator (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 12 Jul, 2025

The **PostgreSQL **IS NULL operator is used to check whether a value is **NULL. In the context of databases, NULL indicates that data is either missing or not applicable. Since NULL cannot be compared directly with any integer or string (as such comparisons result in NULL, meaning an unknown result), the IS NULL operator is crucial for identifying NULL values.

**Syntax

Value **IS NULL;

PostgreSQL IS NULL operator Examples

For the sake of this article, we will be using the **sample DVD rental database, which is explained here and can be downloaded by clicking on this link in our examples.

Let us take a look at some of the examples of the **IS NULL operator in **PostgreSQL to better understand the concept.

**Example 1: Find Customers Without Email Addresses

Here we will make a query to find all the '**first_name' and '**last_name' of customers that don't have an "**email" in the "**customer" table of our sample database.

**Query:

**SELECT first_name, last_name **FROM customer **WHERE email **IS NULL;

**Output:

PostgreSQL IS NULL operator Example

**Explanation: This query selects the '**first_name' and '**last_name' of customers whose email field is NULL. This is useful for identifying customers who haven't provided an email address.

**Example 2: Find Films Without Release Year

Here we will make a query to find all the "**title" of the films that don't have a "**release_year" in the "**film" table of our sample database.

**Query:

**SELECT title **FROM film **WHERE release_year **IS NULL;

**Output:

PostgreSQL IS NULL operator Example

**Explanation: This query retrieves the titles of films where the '**release_year' is NULL. This can help identify films that are missing release year information.

Important Points PostgreSQL IS NULL operator