Boolean.TryParse tries to convert string to Boolean
Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim values() As String = { Nothing, String.Empty, "True", "False", "true", "false", " true ", "0", "1", "-1", "string" } For Each value In values Dim flag As Boolean If Boolean.TryParse(value, flag) Then Console.WriteLine("'{0}' --> {1}", value, flag) Else Console.WriteLine("Unable to parse '{0}'.", If(value Is Nothing, "<null>", value)) End If Next End Sub End Module