Counts the number of cells within a range that meet the given criteria.
Syntax
COUNTIF(range,criteria)
Range is the range of cells from which you want to count cells.
Criteria is the criteria in the form of a number, expression, cell reference, or text that defines which cells will be counted. For example, criteria can be expressed as 32, "32", ">32", "apples", or B4.
Remarks
- You can use the wildcard characters, question mark (?) and asterisk (*), in criteria. A question mark matches any single character; an asterisk matches any sequence of characters. If you want to find an actual question mark or asterisk, type a tilde (~) before the character.
- Microsoft Excel provides additional functions that can be used to analyze your data based on a condition.
- To calculate a sum based on a string of text or a number within a range, use the SUMIF worksheet function.
- To have a formula return one of two values based on a condition, such as a sales bonus based on a specified sales amount, use the IF worksheet function.
- To count cells that are empty or not empty, use the COUNTA and COUNTBLANK functions.
Example 1: Common COUNTIF formulas
The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.
How to copy an example
|
A |
B |
Data |
Data |
apples |
32 |
oranges |
54 |
peaches |
75 |
apples |
86 |
Formula |
Description (result) |
=COUNTIF(A2:A5,"apples") |
Number of cells with apples in the first column above (2) |
=COUNTIF(A2:A5,A4) |
Number of cells with peaches in the first column above (1) |
=COUNTIF(A2:A5,A3)+COUNTIF(A2:A5,A2) |
Number of cells with oranges or apples in the first column above (3) |
=COUNTIF(B2:B5,">55") |
Number of cells with a value greater than 55 in the second column above (2) |
=COUNTIF(B2:B5,"<>"&B4) |
Number of cells with a value not equal to 75 in the second column above (2) |
=COUNTIF(B2:B5,">=32")-COUNTIF(B2:B5,">85") |
Number of cells with a value greater than or equal to 32 and less than or equal to 85 in the second column above (3) |
|
Example 2: COUNTIF formulas using wildcard characters and handling blank values
The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.
How to copy an example
|
A |
B |
Data |
Data |
apples |
Yes |
|
|
oranges |
NO |
peaches |
No |
|
|
apples |
YeS |
Formula |
Description (result) |
=COUNTIF(A2:A7,"*es") |
Number of cells ending with the letters "es" in the first column above (4) |
=COUNTIF(A2:A7,"?????es") |
Number of cells ending with the letters "les" and having exactly 7 letters in the first column above (2) |
=COUNTIF(A2:A7,"*") |
Number of cells containing text in the first column above (4) |
=COUNTIF(A2:A7,"<>"&"*") |
Number of cells not containing text in the first column above (2) |
=COUNTIF(B2:B7,"No") / ROWS(B2:B7) |
The average number of No votes including blank cells in the second column above formatted as a percentage with no decimal places (33%) |
=COUNTIF(B2:B7,"Yes") / (ROWS(B2:B7) -COUNTIF(B2:B7, "<>"&"*")) |
The average number of Yes votes excluding blank cells in the second column above formatted as a percentage with no decimal places (50%) |
|
NOTE To view the number as a percentage, select the cell and click Cells on theFormat menu. Click the Number tab, and then click Percentage in the Categorybox.