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Query for Null or Missing Fields

You can query for null or missing fields in MongoDB using the following methods:

Your programming language's driver.
The MongoDB Atlas UI. To learn more, see Query for Null or Missing Fields with MongoDB Atlas.
MongoDB Compass.

➤ Use the Select your language drop-down menu in the upper-right to set the language of the following examples or select MongoDB Compass.

Different query operators in MongoDB treat null values differently.

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the db.collection.find() method in mongosh.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using MongoDB Compass.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using mongoc_collection_find_with_opts. .. include:: /includes/driver-examples/examples-intro.rst

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the MongoCollection.Find() method in the MongoDB C# Driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the Collection.Find function in the MongoDB Go Driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the com.mongodb.reactivestreams.client.MongoCollection.find method in the MongoDB Java Reactive Streams Driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the com.mongodb.client.MongoCollection.find method in the MongoDB Java Synchronous Driver.

Tip

The driver provides com.mongodb.client.model.Filters helper methods to facilitate the creation of filter documents. The examples on this page use these methods to create the filter documents.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values by using the MongoCollection.find() method in the MongoDB Kotlin Coroutine Driver.

Tip

The driver provides com.mongodb.client.model.Filters helper methods to facilitate the creation of filter documents. The examples on this page use these methods to create the filter documents.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the motor.motor_asyncio.AsyncIOMotorCollection.find method in the Motor driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the Collection.find() method in the MongoDB Node.js Driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the MongoDB\\Collection::find() method in the MongoDB PHP Library.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the pymongo.collection.Collection.find method in the PyMongo Python driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the Mongo::Collection#find() method in the MongoDB Ruby Driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

This page provides examples of operations that query for null values using the collection.find() method in the MongoDB Scala Driver.

The examples on this page use the inventory collection. Connect to a test database in your MongoDB instance then create the inventory collection:

Important

Use BCON_NULL with the MongoDB C driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

Important

Use BsonNull.Value with the MongoDB C# driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

Important

Use nil with the MongoDB Go driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

Important

Use null with the Kotlin Coroutine driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

Important

Use None with the Motor driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

Important

Use None with the PyMongo Python driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

Important

Use nil with the MongoDB Ruby driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

Important

Use BsonNull() with the MongoDB Scala driver to query for null or missing fields in MongoDB.

db.inventory.insertMany([
 { _id: 1, item: null },
 { _id: 2 }
])

[
 { "_id": 1, "item": null },
 { "_id": 2 }
]

For instructions on inserting documents in MongoDB Compass, see Insert Documents.

mongoc_collection_t *collection;
mongoc_bulk_operation_t *bulk;
bson_t *doc;
bool r;
bson_error_t error;
bson_t reply;
collection = mongoc_database_get_collection (db, "inventory");
bulk = mongoc_collection_create_bulk_operation_with_opts (collection, NULL);
doc = BCON_NEW (
 "_id", BCON_INT64 (1),
 "item", BCON_NULL);
r = mongoc_bulk_operation_insert_with_opts (bulk, doc, NULL, &error);
bson_destroy (doc);
if (!r) {
 MONGOC_ERROR ("%s\n", error.message);
 goto done;
}
doc = BCON_NEW ("_id", BCON_INT64 (2));
r = mongoc_bulk_operation_insert_with_opts (bulk, doc, NULL, &error);
bson_destroy (doc);
if (!r) {
 MONGOC_ERROR ("%s\n", error.message);
 goto done;
}
/* "reply" is initialized on success or error */
r = (bool) mongoc_bulk_operation_execute (bulk, &reply, &error);
if (!r) {
 MONGOC_ERROR ("%s\n", error.message);
}

var documents = new[]
{
 new BsonDocument { { "_id", 1 }, { "item", BsonNull.Value } },
 new BsonDocument { { "_id", 2 } }
};
collection.InsertMany(documents);

docs := []interface{}{
bson.D{
{"_id", 1},
{"item", nil},
},
bson.D{
{"_id", 2},
},
}
result, err := coll.InsertMany(context.TODO(), docs)

Publisher<Success> insertManyPublisher = collection.insertMany(asList(
 Document.parse("{'_id': 1, 'item': null}"),
 Document.parse("{'_id': 2}")
));

collection.insertMany(asList(
 Document.parse("{'_id': 1, 'item': null}"),
 Document.parse("{'_id': 2}")
));

collection.insertMany(
 listOf(
 Document("_id", 1)
 .append("item", null),
 Document("_id", 2)
 )
)

await db.inventory.insert_many([{"_id": 1, "item": None}, {"_id": 2}])

await db.collection('inventory').insertMany([{ _id: 1, item: null }, { _id: 2 }]);

$insertManyResult = $db->inventory->insertMany([
 ['_id' => 1, 'item' => null],
 ['_id' => 2],
]);

db.inventory.insert_many([{"_id": 1, "item": None}, {"_id": 2}])

client[:inventory].insert_many([{ _id: 1, item: nil },
 { _id: 2 }])

collection.insertMany(Seq(
 Document("""{"_id": 1, "item": null}"""),
 Document("""{"_id": 2}""")
)).execute()

Equality Filter

The { item : null } query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The { item : null } query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The { item, BCON_NULL } query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The Eq("item", BsonNull.Value) query using the FilterDefinitionBuilder.Eq() method matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The item => nil query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is nil or that do not contain the item field.

The eq("item", null) query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The eq("item", null) query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The eq("item", null) query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The { item : None } query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The { item : null } query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The [ item => undef ] query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The { item : None } query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

The { item => nil } query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is nil or that do not contain the item field.

The equal("item", BsonNull) query matches documents that either contain the item field whose value is null or that do not contain the item field.

db.inventory.find( { item: null } )

Copy the following query filter document into the query bar and click Find:

{ item: null }

Query null value or missing field

mongoc_collection_t *collection;
bson_t *filter;
mongoc_cursor_t *cursor;
collection = mongoc_database_get_collection (db, "inventory");
filter = BCON_NEW ("item", BCON_NULL);
cursor = mongoc_collection_find_with_opts (collection, filter, NULL, NULL);

var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Eq("item", BsonNull.Value);
var result = collection.Find(filter).ToList();

cursor, err := coll.Find(
context.TODO(),
bson.D{
{"item", nil},
})

FindPublisher<Document> findPublisher = collection.find(eq("item", null));

FindIterable<Document> findIterable = collection.find(eq("item", null));

val findFlow = collection
 .find(eq("item", null))

cursor = db.inventory.find({"item": None})

const cursor = db.collection('inventory').find({
 item: null
});

$cursor = $db->inventory->find(['item' => null]);

cursor = db.inventory.find({"item": None})

client[:inventory].find(item: nil)

var findObservable = collection.find(equal("item", BsonNull()))

The query returns both documents in the collection.

Non-Equality Filter

To query for fields that exist and are not null, use the { $ne : null } filter. The { item : { $ne : null } } query matches documents where the item field exists and has a non-null value.

db.inventory.find( { item: { $ne : null } } )

{ item: { $ne : null } }

filter = BCON_NEW ("item", BCON_NULL);
cursor = mongoc_collection_find_with_opts (collection, filter, NULL, NULL);

var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Ne("item", BsonNull.Value);
var result = collection.Find(filter).ToList();

cursor, err := coll.Find(
 context.TODO(),
 bson.D{
 {"item", bson.D{"$ne": nil}},
 })

db.inventory.find( { item: { $ne : null} } )

collection.find(ne("item", null));

collection.find(ne("item", null))

cursor = db.inventory.find( { "item": { "$ne": None } } )

const cursor = db.collection('inventory')
 .find({ item: { $ne : null }
});

$cursor = $db->inventory->find(['item' => ['$ne' => null ]]);

cursor = db.inventory.find( { "item": { "$ne": None } } )

client[:inventory].find(item: { '$ne' => nil })

collection.find($ne("item", null));

Type Check

The { item : { $type: 10 } } query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The { item : { $type: 10 } } query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The { item, { $type, BCON_NULL } } query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The Type("item", BsonType.Null) query using the FilterDefinitionBuilder.Type() method matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null. The value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The following query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The type("item", BsonType.NULL) query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The type("item", BsonType.NULL) query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The type("item", BsonType.NULL) query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10 :

The type("item", BsonType.NULL) query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null. This means the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The { item : { $type: 10 } } query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The { item : { $type: 10 } } query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The [ item => [ $type => 10 ] ] query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The { item : { $type: 10 } } query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

The { item => { $type => 10 } } query matches only documents that contain the item field whose value is null; i.e. the value of the item field is of BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

db.inventory.find( { item : { $type: 10 } } )

Copy the following query filter document into the query bar and click Find:

{ item : { $type: 10 } }

Find null type

mongoc_collection_t *collection;
bson_t *filter;
mongoc_cursor_t *cursor;
collection = mongoc_database_get_collection (db, "inventory");
filter = BCON_NEW (
 "item", "{",
 "$type", BCON_INT64 (10),
 "}");
cursor = mongoc_collection_find_with_opts (collection, filter, NULL, NULL);

var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Type("item", BsonType.Null);
var result = collection.Find(filter).ToList();

cursor, err := coll.Find(
context.TODO(),
bson.D{
{"item", bson.D{
{"$type", 10},
}},
})

findPublisher = collection.find(type("item", BsonType.NULL));

findIterable = collection.find(type("item", BsonType.NULL));

val findFlow = collection
 .find(type("item", BsonType.NULL))

cursor = db.inventory.find({"item": {"$type": 10}})

const cursor = db.collection('inventory').find({
 item: { $type: 10 }
});

$cursor = $db->inventory->find(['item' => ['$type' => 10]]);

cursor = db.inventory.find({"item": {"$type": 10}})

client[:inventory].find(item: { '$type' => 10 })

findObservable = collection.find(bsonType("item", BsonType.NULL))

The query returns only the document where the item field has a value of null.

Existence Check

The following example queries for documents that do not contain a field. [1]

The { item : { $exists: false } } query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The { item : { $exists: false } } query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The { item, { $exists, BCON_BOOL (false) } } query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The Exists("item", false) query using the FilterDefinitionBuilder.Exists() method matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The exists("item", false) query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The exists("item", false) query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The exists("item", false) query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The { item : { $exists: False } } query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The { item : { $exists: false } } query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The [ item => [ $exists => false ] ] query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The { item : { $exists: False } } query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The { item => { $exists => false } } query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

The exists("item", exists = false) query matches documents that do not contain the item field:

db.inventory.find( { item : { $exists: false } } )

Copy the following query filter document into the query bar and click Find:

{ item : { $exists: false } }

Query for null value

mongoc_collection_t *collection;
bson_t *filter;
mongoc_cursor_t *cursor;
collection = mongoc_database_get_collection (db, "inventory");
filter = BCON_NEW (
 "item", "{",
 "$exists", BCON_BOOL (false),
 "}");
cursor = mongoc_collection_find_with_opts (collection, filter, NULL, NULL);

Be sure to also clean up any open resources by calling the following methods, as appropriate:

var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Exists("item", false);
var result = collection.Find(filter).ToList();

cursor, err := coll.Find(
context.TODO(),
bson.D{
{"item", bson.D{
{"$exists", false},
}},
})

findPublisher = collection.find(exists("item", false));

findIterable = collection.find(exists("item", false));

val findFlow = collection
 .find(exists("item", false))

cursor = db.inventory.find({"item": {"$exists": False}})

const cursor = db.collection('inventory').find({
 item: { $exists: false }
});

$cursor = $db->inventory->find(['item' => ['$exists' => false]]);

cursor = db.inventory.find({"item": {"$exists": False}})

client[:inventory].find(item: { '$exists' => false })

findObservable = collection.find(exists("item", exists = false))

The query only returns the document that does not contain the item field.

Tip

Reference documentation for the $type and $exists operators.

[1]	Users can no longer use the query filter `$type: 0` as a synonym for `$exists:false`. To query for null or missing fields, see Query for Null or Missing Fields.

Query for Null or Missing Fields with MongoDB Atlas

The example in this section uses the sample training dataset. To learn how to load the sample dataset into your MongoDB Atlas deployment, see Load Sample Data.

To query for a null or missing field in MongoDB Atlas, follow these steps:

1

In the MongoDB Atlas UI, go to the Clusters page for your project.

Warning

Navigation Improvements In Progress

We're currently rolling out a new and improved navigation experience. If the following steps don't match your view in the Atlas UI, see the preview Atlas documentation.

If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.
If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.
If it's not already displayed, click Clusters in the sidebar.
The Clusters page displays.

2

Navigate to the collection.

For the cluster that contains the sample data, click Browse Collections.
In the left navigation pane, select the sample_training database.
Select the companies collection.

3

Insert a blank document.

Click the Insert Document button to display the dialog box, and then click Insert to insert a document with only the _id field.

4

Specify a query filter document.

To find a document that contains a null or missing value, specify a query filter document in the Filter field. A query filter document uses query operators to specify search conditions.

Different query operators in MongoDB treat null values differently. To apply a query filter, copying each of the following documents into the Filter search bar and click Apply.

Use the following query filter to match documents that either contain a description field with a null value or do not contain the description field:

{ description : null }

Use the following query filter to match only documents that contain a description field with a null value. This filter specifies that the value of the field must be BSON Type Null (BSON Type 10):

{ description : { $type: 10 } }

Use the following query filter to match only documents that do not contain the description field. Only the document that you inserted earlier should appear:

{ description : { $exists: false } }

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