diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 499ae3d2..06f1ef66 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org).
 
 - Improve XLSX parsing speed if no readFilter is applied - [#772](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/issues/772)
 - Fix column names if read filter calls in XLSX reader skip columns - [#777](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/777)
+- XLSX reader can now ignore blank cells, using the setReadEmptyCells(false) method. - [#810](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/issues/810)
 - Fix LOOKUP function which was breaking on edge cases - [#796](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/issues/796)
 - Fix VLOOKUP with exact matches - [#809](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/809)
 - Support COUNTIFS multiple arguments - [#830](https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/830)
diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php
index 8c68a1a7..cbf3fedc 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Reader/Xlsx.php
@@ -972,38 +972,41 @@ class Xlsx extends BaseReader
                                                 break;
                                         }
 
-                                        // Check for numeric values
-                                        if (is_numeric($value) && $cellDataType != 's') {
-                                            if ($value == (int) $value) {
-                                                $value = (int) $value;
-                                            } elseif ($value == (float) $value) {
-                                                $value = (float) $value;
-                                            } elseif ($value == (float) $value) {
-                                                $value = (float) $value;
+                                        // read empty cells or the cells are not empty
+                                        if ($this->readEmptyCells || ($value !== null && $value !== '')) {
+                                            // Check for numeric values
+                                            if (is_numeric($value) && $cellDataType != 's') {
+                                                if ($value == (int) $value) {
+                                                    $value = (int) $value;
+                                                } elseif ($value == (float) $value) {
+                                                    $value = (float) $value;
+                                                } elseif ($value == (float) $value) {
+                                                    $value = (float) $value;
+                                                }
                                             }
-                                        }
 
-                                        // Rich text?
-                                        if ($value instanceof RichText && $this->readDataOnly) {
-                                            $value = $value->getPlainText();
-                                        }
+                                            // Rich text?
+                                            if ($value instanceof RichText && $this->readDataOnly) {
+                                                $value = $value->getPlainText();
+                                            }
 
-                                        $cell = $docSheet->getCell($r);
-                                        // Assign value
-                                        if ($cellDataType != '') {
-                                            $cell->setValueExplicit($value, $cellDataType);
-                                        } else {
-                                            $cell->setValue($value);
-                                        }
-                                        if ($calculatedValue !== null) {
-                                            $cell->setCalculatedValue($calculatedValue);
-                                        }
+                                            $cell = $docSheet->getCell($r);
+                                            // Assign value
+                                            if ($cellDataType != '') {
+                                                $cell->setValueExplicit($value, $cellDataType);
+                                            } else {
+                                                $cell->setValue($value);
+                                            }
+                                            if ($calculatedValue !== null) {
+                                                $cell->setCalculatedValue($calculatedValue);
+                                            }
 
-                                        // Style information?
-                                        if ($c['s'] && !$this->readDataOnly) {
-                                            // no style index means 0, it seems
-                                            $cell->setXfIndex(isset($styles[(int) ($c['s'])]) ?
-                                                (int) ($c['s']) : 0);
+                                            // Style information?
+                                            if ($c['s'] && !$this->readDataOnly) {
+                                                // no style index means 0, it seems
+                                                $cell->setXfIndex(isset($styles[(int) ($c['s'])]) ?
+                                                    (int) ($c['s']) : 0);
+                                            }
                                         }
                                         $rowIndex += 1;
                                     }
diff --git a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Functional/ReadBlankCellsTest.php b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Functional/ReadBlankCellsTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..846c3742
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Functional/ReadBlankCellsTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheetTests\Functional;
+
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Reader\IReadFilter;
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
+
+class ReadBlankCellsTest extends AbstractFunctional
+{
+
+    public function providerSheetFormat()
+    {
+        return [
+            ['Xlsx'],
+            ['Xls'],
+            // ['Ods'], // Broken. Requires fix in Ods reader.
+            // ['Csv'], // never reads blank cells
+            // ['Html'], // never reads blank cells
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test generate file with some empty cells
+     *
+     * @dataProvider providerSheetFormat
+     *
+     * @param array $arrayData
+     * @param mixed $format
+     */
+    public function testXlsxLoadWithNoBlankCells($format)
+    {
+        $spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B2')->setValue('');
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCell('C1')->setValue('C1');
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCell('C3')->setValue('C3');
+
+        $reloadedSpreadsheet = $this->writeAndReload($spreadsheet, $format);
+        $this->assertTrue($reloadedSpreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCellCollection()->has('B2'));
+        $this->assertFalse($reloadedSpreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCellCollection()->has('C2'));
+        $this->assertTrue($reloadedSpreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCellCollection()->has('C3'));
+
+        $reloadedSpreadsheet = $this->writeAndReload($spreadsheet, $format, function($reader) {
+            $reader->setReadEmptyCells(false);
+        });
+        $this->assertFalse($reloadedSpreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCellCollection()->has('B2'));
+        $this->assertFalse($reloadedSpreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCellCollection()->has('C2'));
+        $this->assertTrue($reloadedSpreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->getCellCollection()->has('C3'));
+    }
+
+}