Is there a "null date"? So I don't get errors or "Your result type is not a number or a date."

Question

For example, I have a date field, some of which are filled in, some of which are not.  I want to make a second date field that is a time offset from the first.  I want this formula field to stay in date format so it can be exported to a calendar, etc:

However, when the first field is blank, the second field shows an error instead:

How can I change my formula to output “absence of date” when the first field is blank? Using IF(BLANK( to return "" or 0 breaks the date formatting:

Jonathan11 · Accepted Answer

That doesn’t work, as I said.  "" is a string, not a date, so the field cannot be formatted as a date anymore:Just leaving the “else” argument blank seems to work:IF({date}, something)              Date format for formula not formatted correctly and cannot change format Dates and timezones        Hi Laurence. The problem is that your IF statement can return a 0 or a date.  All you have to do is rearrange your logic in the IF like IF({Date Intake Completed}, DATEADD({Date Intake Completed},21,‘days’)) This formula says that if {Date Intake Completed} is not empty, then return your new date, otherwise return nothing.  This should allow you to go into the formatting tab and do away with the time part of the date/time. Good luck!

Jonathan11 · Answer

Hi @JonathanYou are on the right track!The format for an IF formula is IF(something that can be true, do this if true, do this if false)IF({date}, something, '')So IF(there is a date in the field named date, do something, otherwise output blank)That doesn’t work, as I said.  "" is a string, not a date, so the field cannot be formatted as a date anymore:

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