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filter array if item is empty OR " "

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Posted on by JD-03091828-0

I am looking to do a filter array in my power automate flow to remove empty list items. The problem I am running into is this: the flow is not recognizing " " as being empty:

Before Filter Array:

After Filter Array:

Expression that I am using for the filter array is this:

My question is how do I write a Filter Array expression to filter out empty OR " " items? I'm trying a number of different things and nothing is working. Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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Building flows

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Building with Why 351 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Your current expression filters out empty, but string(' ') is not an empty value.

Have you tried equals(item(), string(' '))?

If so what other options have you tried? If not and that expression works, please mark my reply as answered.

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JD-03091828-0 75 on at

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Thank you for the suggestion. How would I combine these statements to check for both empty AND " "? It is possible that in my flow, both situations may arise. Thank you!

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chiaraalina 1,129 on at

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Hi

Please try this: @and(not(empty(item())), not(equals(item(), ' ')))

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JD-03091828-0 75 on at

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Thank you for the suggestion! When I entered this formula into the Filter Array:

I received the following error:

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chiaraalina 1,129 on at

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Hi

Is this error related to the Filter array step?

Can you screenshot the steps before the filtering?

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Verified answer

Chriddle 8,436 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Use function trim() to remove whitespace before check if empty:

empty(trim(item()))

is equal to

false

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JD-03091828-0 75 on at

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This worked beautifully - thank you!

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