Find Empty Items in Your List

Report the line numbers of every empty line

Emits a single line: `Empty at lines: 2, 4` - the 1-based line numbers of every blank or whitespace-only line in the input, comma-separated. Returns `No empty lines` if there are none. Diagnostic output, not a filtered list - to actually drop the blanks, use Remove empty items.

A line counts as empty when it matches `/^\s*$/` - pure blank, spaces, tabs, or any combination. A line containing a zero-width space or other printable whitespace does count; a line containing `0` or `-` does not.

Useful as a pre-check before serialising or importing data - catches the invisible rows a visual scan misses. Runs client-side as you type; no upload, no sign-up.

How to use find empty items in your list

1Enter your list into the input panel
2Watch as empty items are highlighted
3See the count update live
4Copy the results as needed
5Download the output as a plain text file

Keyboard shortcuts

Drive ListShift without touching the mouse.

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl` `Z`	Undo last input change
`Ctrl` `Shift` `Z`	Redo
`Ctrl` `Shift` `Enter`	Toggle fullscreen focus on the editor
`Esc`	Exit fullscreen
`Ctrl` `K`	Open the command palette to jump to any tool
`Ctrl` `S`	Save current pipeline draft Plus
`Ctrl` `P`	Run a saved pipeline Plus

What Find Empty Items does

Diagnostic output: line numbers of every blank or whitespace-only row. Pairs with Remove empty items.

1-based line numbers, comma-separated

Output format: `Empty at lines: 2, 4`. Line numbers match what your editor shows (first line is 1, not 0). Makes it trivial to jump to and hand-review the offending rows before you drop them.

Whitespace-only counts as empty

A line with only spaces, tabs, or any mix of whitespace matches `/^\s*$/` and is reported. The zero-width space, non-breaking space, and other Unicode whitespace are included; visible punctuation like `-` or `0` is not.

Diagnostic, not destructive

Returns a report, not a filtered list. Your input is never modified. Pair with Remove empty items when you want the blanks actually gone.

Single traversal

One linear pass over the input, collecting matching line indices into an array. The output is a short status string regardless of list length.

Runs live in the browser

The report updates as you type. No options to configure - the empty-line definition is the regex `/^\s*$/` applied to every split line.

Worked example

Op reports the 1-based line numbers of empty or whitespace-only lines, or `No empty lines` if none.

Input

Item 1

Item 2

Item 3

Output

Empty at lines: 2, 4

Behaviour reference

No options. The op rules are fixed.

Input shape	What happens	Example
Fully blank line	Counted as empty; line number reported	Empty line at position 2 → `Empty at lines: 2`
Whitespace-only line (spaces / tabs)	Also counted as empty	` ` (two spaces) on line 4 → reported
No empty lines	Output is `No empty lines`	Status bar also shows `0 empty`
Line numbering (automatic)	1-based indexing	First line is line 1, not line 0

FAQ

What does the output look like?

Either `Empty at lines: N, M, ...` (1-based) or `No empty lines`. It is a report of positions, not a modified list. To actually drop the blanks, use Remove empty lines.

Does it count whitespace-only lines as empty?

Yes. `line.trim() === ''` is the check - spaces, tabs, and other whitespace all count as empty.

Can I remove the empty lines instead of finding them?

Use Remove empty lines - it strips every blank/whitespace-only line in one pass.

Are the line numbers 0-based or 1-based?

1-based - the first line is line 1.

Does it have any options?

No. The behaviour is fixed: report 1-based positions of lines where `trim()` yields an empty string.

Also known as

empty list items blank list lines whitespace-only lines empty line counter list data cleaning list processing data validation empty entry finder