Microsoft Excel offers a number of methods for counting various cell types, including blank or non-blank cells, cells with numbers, times, or text values, cells containing specific words or characters, and so on. In this article, we will discuss how to use different types of count functions for counting in Excel.
How to Use Different Types of COUNT Functions in Excel: 5 Different Types And Applications
There is a total of five functions used for counting, predominantly in Excel. These are namely the COUNT function, the COUNTA function, the COUNTIF function, the COUNTIFS function, and the COUNTBLANK function. Here, we will apply five different count functions and you will learn how to use different types of count functions for counting in Excel.
Read More: How to Count Numbers in a Cell in Excel
1. Using COUNT Function to Count Cell Numbers
The COUNT function is used to determine the number of cells that contain numbers or the number of numbers in a list. It is the simplest of the counting functions. Dates are also counted when using this function. The syntax for the COUNT function is:
Step 1:
- Here, we want to determine only the number of jobs in the list using the COUNT function.
- Firstly, select the E17 cell.
- Then, write down the following by selecting the range from the E5 cell to the E15 cell formula here.
=COUNT(E5:E15)- After that, press CTRL+ENTER from the keyboard shortcut.
Step 2:
- Finally, you will see the result of the number of jobs for tradies here is 8.
Read More: How to Find 5 Most Frequent Numbers in Excel
2. Utilizing COUNTA Function to Count Cell Texts
The COUNTA function is used to count the number of cells with text within a particular range that is not empty. This function counts numbers, error values, logical formulas, and formulas that return an empty text string. The syntax for the COUNTA function is:
Step 1:
- Here, we want to use the COUNTA function to count the number of cells with text in the list.
- Firstly, choose the E17 cell.
- Then, by choosing the range from the B5 cell to the B15 cell formula here, write down the following formula.
=COUNTA(B5:B15)- Press the keyboard shortcut CTRL+ENTER after that.
Step 2:
- Lastly, you will observe here the 11 tradies available.
3. Applying COUNTBLANK Function to Count Blank Cells
The COUNTBLANK function counts the number of blank cells in a specified range. The syntax for the COUNTBLANK function is:
Step 1:
- Here, there is a mixed list of data that has different values and a few blank cells, in between, and we want to use the COUNTBLANK function in order to determine the number of blank cells in the range.
- In order to count the number of cells that are blank in the cell range E5: E15, we input the following formula into Cell E17.
=COUNTBLANK(E5:E15)
Step 2:
- Upon pressing CTRL+ENTER, we get a value of 3 returned, so of the cells in the range, there were only three blank cells.
4. Inserting COUNTIF Function to Count with a Single Criterion
The COUNTIF function brings conditional logic into the equation and counts the number of cells that meet specific criteria. The syntax for the COUNTIF function is:
Step 1:
- Here, we want to evaluate how many tradies work in Texas state.
- Pick the E17 cell first.
- Write down the following formula by selecting the range from the C5 cell formula to the C15 cell formula and specifically choosing the Texas state as the criteria.
=COUNTIF(C5:C15, "Texas")- Then, utilize the keyboard shortcut CTRL+ENTER.
Step 2:
- Consequently, you will notice that 6 tradies work in Texas state.
Read More: [Fixed] Excel COUNT Function Not Working
5. Using COUNTIFS Function to Count with Multiple Conditions
The COUNTIFS function is similar to the COUNTIF function, except it’s used to count the number of cells in a range that meet multiple criteria. All the criteria have to be met for COUNTIFS to count that specific value. So, if one thinks of this using logical formula logic, all conditions set have to evaluate to true for a row to be counted.
Step 1:
- Here, we want to determine how many tradies work in Texas state and they are Steam Engineers using the COUNTIFS function.
- Firstly, select the E17 cell to apply the formula.
- Then put down the following formula here by choosing the ranges C5 to C15 and D5 to D15 with Texas and Steam Engineer as the criteria respectively.
=COUNTIFS(C5:C15,"Texas",D5:D15,"Steam Engineer")- After that, hit CTRL+ENTER from the keyboard shortcut.
Step 2:
- As a result, you will find here that the 3 tradies who work in Texas state are steam engineers.
Download Practice Workbook
You may download the following Excel workbook for better understanding and practice it by yourself.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve covered 5 handy ways to use different types of count functions in Excel for counting cell numbers, text numbers, the number of blank cells, and specific names in Excel. We sincerely hope you enjoyed and learned a lot from this article. If you have any questions, comments, or recommendations, kindly leave them in the comment section below.
