countif function

7/26/2019 COUNTIF Function

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In this lesson you can learn aboutCOUNTIF function.

COUNTIF function counts the number of times within the specified range of cells that

perform the specified value as a criterion.

Function syntax

=COUNTIF (range, criteria)

!ange " the range of cells that you want to count the data. There has to be an

ongoing area.

Criteria " a condition that must be met for cell counting. In the case of numeric

values " the condition can loo# li#e eg $%%

Example 1 - count string wit exact

string o! text&ou want to count cells where there is only !'(O!T text. Cells are in C column.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,%&E'O&T%)

Example " - greater tan


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&ou want to count cells where value is greater than $%. Cells are in C column.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,*1$)

Example + - greater tan or eual to

&ou want to count cells where value is greater than or e)ual $%. Cells are in C column.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,=*1$)


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Example - not eual to&ou want to count cells where value is not e)ual to $%. Cells are in C column.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,.*1$)


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Example / - less tan x 0ut more tan &ou want to count cells where value is less than *% but more than $+. Cells are in C

column.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,.*$)-COUNTIF(C"#C1$,.=*1/)

Example 2 - counti! plus counti!&ou want to count cells where value is greater than *% plus less than $+. Cells are in C

column.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,*$)3COUNTIF(C"#C1$,.*1/)


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Example 4 - count cells containing

string o! text&ou want to count cells which contain !'(O!T text. Cells are in C column.

Use asteris# in your formula. ,steris# replaces any other signs.The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,5&E'O&T5)


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Example 6 - count cells 0eginning wit

string o! text&ou want to count cells which begin !'(O!T text. Cells are in C column. Use asteris#

in your formula. ,steris# replaces any other signs.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,&E'O&T5)


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Example 7 - count cells en8ing wit

string o! text&ou want to count cells which end !T text. Cells are in C column. Use asteris# in your

formula. ,steris# replaces any other signs.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,5&T)


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Example 1$ - count cells en8ing wit

string o! text an8 contains 2 letters&ou want to count cells which end !T text and contains - letters. Cells are in C column.

Use )uestion mar# in your formula. uestion mar# replaces one sign.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,9999&T)


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Example 11 - count cells containing an

text&ou want to count cells which contain any text. Cells are in C column. Use asteris# in

your formula. ,steris# replaces any other signs.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,5)


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Example 1+ - greater tan or eual to

:alue !rom cell&ou want to count cells where value is greater than or e)ual to value from cell C$1.

Cells are in C column.

The formula is =COUNTIF(C"#C1$,=*C1")


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How the COUNTIF Function Works

Related Tutorial: Text only version - Excel COUNTIF Function

The COUNTIF function combines the IF functionand COUNT functionin Excel. This

combination allows you to count the number of times secific data is found in a selected

!rou of cells.

The IF ortion of the function determines what data meets the secified criteria and the

COUNT art does the countin!.

COUNTIF Function Step by Step Tutorial

This tutorial uses a set of data records and the COUNTIF function to find the number of

"ales Res who ha#e more than $%& orders for the year.

Followin! the stes in the tutorial toics below wal's you throu!h creatin! and usin!

the COUNTIF function seen in the ima!e abo#e to count the number of sales res with

more than $%& orders.

Entering the Tutorial Data

Entering the Tutorial Data

The first ste to usin! the COUNTIF functionin Excel is to enter the data.

Enter the datainto cellsC( to E(( of an Excel worksheetas seen in the ima!e abo#e.
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The COUNTIF functionand the search criteria )!reater than $%& orders* will be added

to row ($ below the data.

NoteThe tutorial instructions do not include formattin! stes for the worksheet.

This will not interfere with comletin! the tutorial. +our wor'sheet will loo' different

than the examle shown, but the COUNTIF function will !i#e you the same results.

The COUNTIF Function's Syntax

The COUNTIF Function!s Synta"

In Excel, a function-s syntaxrefers to the layout of the function and includes the

function-s name, brac'ets, and arguments.

The syntax for the COUNTIF function is:

# COUNTIF $ %ange& Criteria '

The COUNTIF Function!s (rgu)ents

The function-s argumentstell the function what condition we are testin! for and

what rangeof datato count when the condition is met.

%ange the !rou of cells the function is to search.

Criteria this #alue is comared with the datain the Rangecells. If a match is found

then the cell in the Rangeis counted. /ctual data or the cell referenceto the data can

be entered for this ar!ument.

Starting the COUNTIF Function
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Opening the COUNTIF Function Dialog *o"

/lthou!h it is ossible to 0ust tye the COUNTIF functioninto a cell in a worksheet,

many eole find it easier to use the function-s dialog boxto enter the function.

Tutorial Steps

For hel with these instructions, see the ima!e abo#e.

! Click on cell "# to make it the acti$e cell! This is where we will enter the

COUNTIF function!

#! Click on the Formulastab of the ribbon!

%! Choose More Functions > Statistical from the ribbon to o&en the function

dro& down list!

'! Click on COUNTIFin the list to bring u& the COUNTIF function(s dialog box!

The datathat we enter into the two blan' rows in the dialo! box will form

the argumentsof the COUNTIF function.

These argumentstell the function what condition we are testin! for and what cells to

count when the condition is met.

Entering the Range )rgument
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Entering the Criteria(rgu)ent

The Criteriaargumenttells COUNTIF what data it should try to find in

the Rangear!ument.

/lthou!h actual data such as text or numbers li'e " > 250 "can be entered into

the dialog boxfor this ar!ument it is usually best to enter a cell referenceinto

the dialog box, such as 1($ and then enter the data we want to match into that cellin

the wor'sheet.

Tutorial Steps

For hel with these instructions, clic' on the ima!e abo#e.

! Click on the Criterialine in the dialog box!

#! Click on cell D# to enter that cell reference! The function will search the range

selected in the &re$ious ste& for data that matches whate$er data is entered into

this cell!

%! Click O. to close the dialog box and com&lete the COUNTIF function!

'! )n answer ofzero should a&&ear in cell "# / the cell where we entered the

function / because we ha$e not yet added the data to the Criteria 0eld 1D#2!

Adding the Search Criteria
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(++ing the Search Criteria

The last ste in the tutorial is to add the criteria we want the functionto match.

In this case we want the number of "ales Res with more than $%& orders for the year.

To do this we enter > 250into 1($ the cellidentified in the function as containin! thecriteriaargument.

Tutorial Steps

For hel&with these instructions, see the ima!e abo#e.

! In cell D# ty&e > 250and &ress the Enterkey on the keyboard!

#! The number 4 should a&&ear in cell "#!

%! The criterion of " > 250 "is met in four cells in column "3 "'* "-* "4* "+!

Therefore these are the only cells counted by the function!
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'! 5hen you click on cell "#* the com&lete function

=COUNTIF (E3:E! "#$%a&&ears in the formula barabo$e the worksheet!

COUNTIF

Counts the number of cells within a range that meetthe gi$en criteria!

Syntax

COUNTIF1ran&e*criteria2

'an&e is the range of cells from which you want tocount cells!

Criteria is the criteria in the form of a number*

ex&ression* cell reference* or text that de0nes whichcells will be counted! For exam&le* criteria can beex&ressed as %#* 6%#6* 67%#6* 6a&&les6* or 8'!

9emarks :ou can use the wildcard characters* ;uestion

mark 1 an asterisk matches anyse;uence of characters! If you want to 0nd an actual;uestion mark or asterisk* ty&e a tilde 1?2 before thecharacter!

@icrosoft "xcel &ro$ides additional functions thatcan be used to analyAe your data based on a condition!
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.ec'#al places (33!

=COUNTIF(2:7,es! 9 (O;(2:7!COUNTIF(2:7, /-0!!

The a)erage n"#$er o% es )oes ecl".'ng $lsecon. col"#n a$o)e %or#ae. as a percenag

.ec'#al places (5>!

NOT" To $iew the number as a &ercentage* select the cell and click Cellson

the Foratmenu! Click the Nu)ertab* and then click *ercenta&ein

the Cate&orybox!

'xcel COUNTIF2 , 2tep by 2tep Tutorial on 3ow to Use

COUNTIF2 in your 4or#sheets

With the launch o !icrosot "#$ includingcloud ser%ices and the

new lowered&riced su(scrition otions) !icrosot sales are

(oo*ing again and with o%er one (illion installations o !icrosot

Oice) roer training in the !icrosot suite o alications has

(eco*e essential+ For a great o%er%iew o what Oice ,-." has to

oer) sign u or theOffice 2013 For Dummies Video

Training, Deluxe Editioncourse ro* Ude*/ toda/ and get u

to seed with the new unctionalities oered (/ Oice ,-."+

This tutorial is designed as a ste (/ ste guide on how to use the

COUNTIFS unction in /our worksheets and sreadsheets+ We

ha%e set u a worksheet or the uroses o this tutorial+ The

worksheet contains sales data ro* a ictitious co*an/ includingcusto*er na*es) saleserson0s na*e) the t/e o ite* sold) the

units sold and the total sales %alue er sale+ Our worksheet or the

uroses o this tutorial looks like this1
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The COUNTIFS unction is %er/ si*ilar to the COUNTIF unction+

For a ste (/ ste tutorial on how to use the COUNTIF unction)

/ou can read1An Excel COUT!F Tutorial to "#o$ %ou &o$

to Use COUT!F in 'our s(reads#eetson the Ude*/ (log+

2et0s see how we can use the COUNTIFS unction in our worksheetto e3tract the sales data we re4uire+

;ow to use Excel Functions

E3cel allows /ou to access the (uilt&in unctions (/ t/ing

the unction na*e within the cell where /ou want the answer to

aear) or /ou can use the or*ulas ta( to access the (uilt&in

unctions and then select the unction /ou want to use ro* the

or*ula ta(+ For the uroses o this tutorial) we will use the

unction ro* the or*ulas ta( to show /ou how to enter unction
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argu*ents %ia the unction wi5ard+ Sign u or theExcel 2013)

!ntroducing Excelcourse toda/ to learn to use the (uilt&in

unctions oered (/ E3cel+

To use a or*ula or unction in E3cel) /ou need to know how the

unction works and what the unction does+ For an article on

unctions) /ou can readExcel Tutorial) An !n*De(t# +uide to

or-ing $it# 'our Data, .uilding Formulas, and Using

Functionsa%aila(le ro* the Ude*/ (log+

The COUNTIFS unction uses ara*eters /ou enter in the unction

to count the nu*(er o occurrences o data that *eet /our seciic

re4uire*ents within the range o data /ou seci/+

Using COUNTIF< to Calculate ac>?s


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COUNTIFS unction ro* the 8!ore Functions9) 8Statistical9

*enu+

:ou need to select the ;ate range or the irst criteria so that E3cel

searches and counts the nu*(er o date occurrences within that

range and then /ou need to set the criteria to the date /ou want to

search or+ In this case we set our date range as


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Use COUNTIF< to Count ow manItems were sol8 0etween two 8ates

In our ne3t e3a*le) we will create a ew cells to allow us to 4uickl/

search or sales or a seciic ite* (etween two dates+ We ha%e

created na*ed ranges or dierent colu*ns o data+ We called the;ate colu*n 8dates9) we na*ed the Saleserson colu*n

8Salesersons9) and we na*ed the Unit t/e colu*n 8T/es9+ For

an article on cell reerences and how to create na*ed ranges) /ou

can readExcel Cell /eferences and &o$ to Use T#em in

%our or-s#eets and Formulason the Ude*/ (log and or a

course on how to create na*ed ranges and how to get the (est ro*/our E3cel) sign u orUse Excel i-e A ro Fastro* Ude*/+

Here are the cells we ha%e added to our worksheet1
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(* 1COUNT < 1COUNT/ 1O7N=O/1 /1>/NCE1 E?/@4=E" OF 1COUNT

$* "U@ as an /RR/+ FOR@U=/

2* COUNT with and IF function nested and entered as an /RR/+FOR@U=/ .

DCOUNT will count only numeric cells where the cells, or corresponing cells meet a

speci!ie criteria

DCOUNT# will count all cells $Te%t or numeric& where the cells, or corresponing cells

meet a speci!ie criteria.

For all examles I will use the data as shown below. 7here (.E.


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To !et a count of these cells, we would need to use the 1COUNT/ function which would

count all cells, text or numeric, where the criteria is bein! met. That isA

#DCOUNT($DataTable&(.&Criteria'

SU= as an array 6or)ula

Normally, the "U@ function will add all numeric cells in a secified ran!e. 3owe#er,

when used as an array formula with criteria used, it will !i#e us a count instead of a

sum. "ee below examle'(U)$$#2*#25'"+oa"&-$C2*C25>+#.U/$"1#pr1

2005"&&-$/2*/25'"igh"&&3(U)$$#2*#25'"4ouron"&-$C2*C25>+#.U/$"1#pr1

2005"&&-$/2*/25'".ow"&&

/s with the 1COUNT/ examle, the abo#e array entered )CtrlHShi6tHEnter* "U@

examle would count all rows where the 8Use y 1ate8 is !reater than D/r$&&%, the

81escrition8 is either 8>od'a8 OR 8ourbon8 and the 8/lcohol Content8 is 83i!h8 OR

8=ow8.

The reason it !i#es a count is because each chec' is returned as TRUE )has a #alue of

(* or F/="E )has a #alue of &*. "o, in the abo#e examle, the third row chec' would

actually loo' li'eA'(U)$$0&-$0&-$6&&3(U)$$6&-$6&-$6&&/s you can see, unless all >

criteriaare met in at least one o6 the Su) 6unctions, the result will always be &

)F/="E*. To read about this in detail, see our /ril edition of our free E?CE=NE7"=ETTER

COUNT an+ IF

9COUNT)IF)/$:/$%98ourbon8,IF)C$:C$%>/=UE)8D/r

$&&%8*,IF)E$:E$%98=ow8,$:$%****

HCOUNT)IF)/$:/$%98>od'a8,IF)C$:C$%>/=UE)8D/r

$&&%8*,IF)E$:E$%983i!h8,$:$%****

The abo#e, does the same as the array "U@ examle and must be entered by

ushin! CtrlHShi6tHEnter. Note we ha#e told the COUNT to count all cells in $:$%
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where the criteria is met. In other words, count all 8Buantity8 cells where the rest of the

secified rows of the 81escrition8, 8Use y 1ate8 and 8/lcohol Content8 meet the

secified criteria

It is i)portantto 'now that usin! the array entered COUNT and IF, or the "U@ as

an /RR/+ FOR@U=/ o#er a lar!e number of cells will cause a noticeable slow down in

Excel-s recalculation time. The 1COUNT < 1COUNT/ are far more efficient in this

re!ard. 3owe#er, as stated at the #ery "tart , a 5I1OTT(*4E is better still when done

correctly.

www.free"training"tutorial.com5statistical"!unctions.html
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