How to Check if a Pandas DataFrame is Empty

You can use df.empty to check if a Pandas DataFrame is empty:

df = df.empty

Where:

• “True” means that the DataFrame is empty
• “False” means that the DataFrame is not empty

Steps to Check if a Pandas DataFrame is Empty

Step 1: Create a DataFrame

To start with a simple example, let’s create a DataFrame with 2 columns:

import pandas as pd

boxes = {'Color': ['Blue','Blue','Green','Green','Red','Red'],
        'Height': [15,20,25,20,15,25]
        }

df = pd.DataFrame(boxes, columns = ['Color','Height'])

print (df)

Run the code in Python, and you’ll see the following DataFrame:

Step 2: Check if the DataFrame is Empty

Next, check if the DataFrame is empty by adding the following syntax:

df = df.empty

Therefore, the complete Python code is:

import pandas as pd

boxes = {'Color': ['Blue','Blue','Green','Green','Red','Red'],
        'Height': [15,20,25,20,15,25]
        }

df = pd.DataFrame(boxes, columns = ['Color','Height'])

df = df.empty

print (df)

Once you run the code, you’ll get “False” which means that the DataFrame is not empty:

Step 3: Drop all Columns in the DataFrame

Let’s now drop all the columns in the DataFrame using this syntax:

df = df.drop(['Color','Height'],axis=1)

Here is the complete Python code to drop all the columns, and then check if the DataFrame is empty:

import pandas as pd

boxes = {'Color': ['Blue','Blue','Green','Green','Red','Red'],
        'Height': [15,20,25,20,15,25]
        }

df = pd.DataFrame(boxes, columns = ['Color','Height'])

df = df.drop(['Color','Height'],axis=1)

df = df.empty

print (df)

You’ll then get “True” which means that the DataFrame is Empty:

Dealing with NaNs

Let’s create a DataFrame that consists only NaN values:

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

data = {'first_column':  [np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan],
        'second_column': [np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan]
       }

df = pd.DataFrame(data,columns=['first_column','second_column'])

print (df)

As you can see, the DataFrame consists only NaNs:

Next, check if the DataFrame is empty:

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

data = {'first_column':  [np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan],
        'second_column': [np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan]
       }

df = pd.DataFrame(data,columns=['first_column','second_column'])

df = df.empty

print (df)

You’ll get “False” which means that the DataFrame is not empty, even if it consists only NaNs:

You can drop the NaN values using dropna:

df = df.dropna()

Let’s drop all the NaN values in the DataFrame, and then check again if the DataFrame is empty:

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

data = {'first_column':  [np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan],
        'second_column': [np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan,np.nan]
       }

df = pd.DataFrame(data,columns=['first_column','second_column'])

df = df.dropna()

df = df.empty

print (df)

As you can see, the DataFrame is indeed empty after dropping the NaNs:

You can check the Pandas Documentation to learn more about df.empty.