The Count on Halloween

Happy Halloween All!

The COUNTIF function is an Extremely Useful, and sometimes misunderstood, way to derive valuable information from your data.

COUNTIF is a highly flexible counting function and, although it can be a little Tricky, getting familiar with its use can be a real Treat!

The reason this function can be challenging to some users is because of the prevalent use of Quotation Marks within the formulas. The following examples will demonstrate how it works (in each case, the formula uses a range named Data):

Count the number of cells that contain the first name of Dracula - "Vlad" (BTW, not case sensitive):
=COUNTIF(Data,"Vlad")

Count the number of cells that contain the words "Vlad" and “Igor”:
=COUNTIF(Data,"Vlad") + COUNTIF(Data,"Igor")

Count the number of cells containing Any Text (ignoring the numbers):
=COUNTIF(Data,"*")

Count the number of 3-letter words:
=COUNTIF(Data,"???")

Count the number of cells containing text that begins with the letter "V":
=COUNTIF(Data, “V*”)

Count the number of cells that contain a value Greater Than Or Equal to 13:
=COUNTIF(Data,">=13")

Count the number of cells that contain a value from 13 to 33:
=COUNTIF(Data,">=13")-COUNTIF(data,">33")

With a little imagination, COUNTIF can indeed be a Treat to use. So, this Halloween, Don’t forget the Count!