Count Function In Excel

The COUNT function in Excel counts the number of cells containing numerical values within the given range. It always returns an integer value.

The COUNT in Excel is an inbuilt statistical function, so we can insert the formula from the “Function Library” or enter it directly in the worksheet.

For example, enter formula =COUNT(A1:A5) in cell B1 to get the count of numeric values in the cells A1 to A5.

The output is shown above, as 3, because there are 5 values selected, but only 3 are numeric values.

The syntax of the COUNT Excel formula is,

The arguments of the COUNT Excel formula are,

• value1, , …, : It is a mandatory argument. It can range up to 255 values. The value can be a cell reference or a range of values. It is a collection of worksheet cells containing a variety of data, out of which only the cells containing numbers are counted.

We can use the COUNT Excel function in 2 ways, namely:

1. Access from the Excel ribbon.
2. Enter in the worksheet manually.

Method #1 - Access from the Excel ribbon

Choose an empty cell for the result → select the “Formulas” tab → go to the “Function Library” group → click the “More Functions” option drop-down → click the “Statistical” option right arrow → select the “COUNT” function, as shown below.

The “Function Arguments” windowappears. Enter the arguments in the “Value1”, “Value2”, etc. fields, and click “OK”, as shown below.

Method #2 - Enter in the worksheet manually

1. Select an empty cell for the output.
2. Type =COUNT( in the selected cell. [Alternatively, type =C or =COU and double-click the COUNT function from the list of suggestions shown by Excel.
3. Enter the argument as cell value or cell reference and close the brackets.
4. Press the “Enter” key.

Basic Example - Count Numbers in the Given Range

Let us look at an example to apply the COUNT function to Count Numbers in the Given Range. (shown in the table below).

Select cell B10, enter the formula =COUNT(B3:B8), and press “Enter”.

The output is shown above. The range B3:B8 contains only three numeric values. Hence, the COUNT function returns 3.

We will consider some scenarios using COUNT Function in Excel examples. Each example covers a different case, implemented using the COUNT function.

Example #1 - Count Non-empty Cells

Let us apply the COUNTA function to the range of cells A1:A5 provided in the below table to find the count of the number of cells that are not empty.

Select cell B1, enter the formula =COUNTA(A1:A5), and press “Enter”.

The output is shown above. The COUNTA function counts the number of cells from A1 through A5 that contain some data. It returns the value as 4, as cells A1, A2, A3, and A4 are not empty, and only cell A5 is empty. 

Example #2 - Count the Number of Valid Dates

Let us apply the COUNT function to count the number of valid dates to the range of cells C3:C8 (shown in the table below).

Select cell C10, enter the formula =COUNT(C3:C8), and press “Enter”.

The output is shown above. The range contains dates in different formats. Out of this, only two dates are valid. Hence, the formula returns 2.

Example #3 - Multiple Parameters

Let us apply the COUNT formula to the range of excel cells C3:C7 (provided in the table below) along with another parameter that is hard-coded with a value of 5.

Select cell C11, enter the formula =COUNTA(C3:C7,5), and press “Enter”.

The output is shown above. The number of cells (C3 through C7) with valid numeric values or dates is 2, plus 1 for the number 5. Hence the COUNT formula returns the result as 3 (cells C5, C6, and the number 5). Note that the date in cell C7 is invalid, and so is not taken into account in the given results.

Example #4 - Invalid Numbers

Let us apply the COUNT formula to the range of values B6:B8 (shown in the table below) containing invalid numbers. 

Select cell B12, enter the formula =COUNTA(B6:B8), and press “Enter”.

The output is shown above. The range does not have any valid number. Hence, the result returned by the formula is 0, indicated in cell B12.

Example #5 - Empty Range

Let us apply the COUNT function to the range of values in cells D3:D5, which is an empty range.

Select cell D10, enter the formula =COUNTA(D3:D5), and press “Enter”.

The output is shown above. The given range does not have any numbers, and it is empty. Hence, the result returned by the formula is 0, indicated in cell D10.

The features of the COUNT Excel function are listed as follows:

1. It counts the list of parameters containing the logical values and text representations.
2. It does not count the error values or text which cannot be converted into numbers.
3. It counts only the numbers and not the logical values, empty cells, text, or error values when the argument seems to be an array or reference.
4. A further extension to the COUNT function is the COUNTA function. It counts logical values, text, or error values.
5. Another extension of the COUNT function is the COUNTIF function, which counts the numbers that meet a specified criterion.

• Since the COUNT function has other related functions such as COUNTA, COUNTIF, COUNTBLANK, etc., we must ensure we enter the right function name to avoid getting a “#NAME?” error.
• In a selected cell range, the function ignores the blank cells, non-numeric cells, etc.