The way your function currently reads is: If any of the fields are empty, check to see if the password and confirm password fields match. function chkForm(frm) { if (frm.uname.value == "") { alert("Please enter a user name"); frm.uname.focus(); return false; } if (frm.pass.value == "") { alert("Please enter a password"); frm.pass.focus(); return false; } if (frm.pass1.value == "") { alert("Please confirm your password"); frm.pass1.focus(); return false; } if (frm.fname.value == "") { alert("Please enter your first name"); frm.fname.focus(); return false; } if (frm.lname.value == "") { alert("Please enter your last name"); frm.lname.focus(); return false; } if (frm.email.value == "") { alert("Please enter your email"); frm.email.focus(); return false; } if (frm.pass.value != frm.pass1.value) { alert("Your password and confirmation do not match"); frm.pass.focus(); return false; } return true; } <form name="myForm" id="myForm" action="somePage" method="post" on submit = "return chkForm(this)">