Excel count if text or text

In this example, the goal is to count cells in a range that contain text values. This could be hardcoded text like «apple» or «red», numbers entered as text, or formulas that return text values. Empty cells, and cells that contain numeric values or errors should not be included in the count. This problem can be solved with the COUNTIF function or the SUMPRODUCT function. Both approaches are explained below. For convenience, data is the named range B5:B15.

COUNTIF function

The simplest way to solve this problem is with the COUNTIF function and the asterisk (*) wildcard. The asterisk (*) matches zero or more characters of any kind. For example, to count cells in a range that begin with «a», you can use COUNTIF like this:

=COUNTIF(range,"a*") // begins with "a"

In this example however we don’t want to match any specific text value. We want to match all text values. To do this, we provide the asterisk (*) by itself for criteria. The formula in H5 is:

=COUNTIF(data,"*") // any text value

The result is 4, because there are four cells in data (B5:B15) that contain text values.

To reverse the operation of the formula and count all cells that do not contain text, add the not equal to (<>) logical operator like this:

=COUNTIF(data,"<>*") // non-text values

This is the formula used in cell H6. The result is 7, since there are seven cells in data (B5:B15) that do not contain text values.

COUNTIFS function

To apply more specific criteria, you can switch to the COUNTIFs function, which supports multiple conditions. For example, to count cells with text, but exclude cells that contain only a space character, you can use a formula like this:

=COUNTIFS(range,"*",range,"<> ")

This formula will count cells that contain any text value except a single space (» «).

SUMPRODUCT function

Another way to solve this problem is to use the SUMPRODUCT function with the ISTEXT function.  SUMPRODUCT makes it easy to perform a logical test on a range, then count the results. The test is performed with the ISTEXT function. True to its name, the ISTEXT function only returns TRUE when given a text value:

=ISTEXT("apple")// returns TRUE
=ISTEXT(70) // returns FALSE

To count cells with text values in the example shown, you can use a formula like this:

=SUMPRODUCT(--ISTEXT(data))

Working from the inside out, the logical test is based on the ISTEXT function:

ISTEXT(data)

Because data (B5:B15) contains 11 values, ISTEXT returns 11 results in an array like this:

{TRUE;TRUE;TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE}

In this array, the TRUE values correspond to cells that contain text values, and the FALSE values represent cells that do not contain text. To convert the TRUE and FALSE values to 1s and 0s, we use a double negative (—):

--{TRUE;TRUE;TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE}

The resulting array inside the SUMPRODUCT function looks like this:

=SUMPRODUCT({1;1;1;0;0;1;0;0;0;0;0}) // returns 4

With a single array to process, SUMPRODUCT sums the array and returns 4 as the result.

To reverse the formula and count all cells that do not contain text, you can nest the ISTEXT function inside the NOT function like this:

=SUMPRODUCT(--NOT(ISTEXT(data)))

The NOT function reverses the results from ISTEXT. The double negative (—) converts the array to numbers, and the array inside SUMPRODUCT looks like this:

=SUMPRODUCT({0;0;0;1;1;0;1;1;1;1;1}) // returns 7

The result is 7, since there are seven cells in data (B5:B15) that do not contain text values.

Note: the SUMPRODUCT formulas above may seem complex, but using Boolean operations in array formulas is powerful and flexible. It is also an important skill in modern functions like FILTER and XLOOKUP, which often use this technique to select the right data. The syntax used by COUNTIF on the other hand is unique to a group of eight functions and is therefore not as useful or portable.

Excel spreadsheet is known to be one of the best data storing and analyzing tools. Cells together make spreadsheets that consist of text and numbers. For more understanding, you have to differentiate cells filled with text.  

So, practically how would you count cells with text in Excel? You can use a few different formulas to count cells containing any text, empty cells, and cells with specific characters or just filtered cells. All these formulas can be used in Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010.  

At first, Excel spreadsheets were limited to dealing with numbers, however now we can use these sheets to store as well as modify text. Do you really want to know how many cells are filled with text in your data sheet?

For this purpose, you can use multiple functions in Excel. Depending on the situation, you can use any function.

Here you will find the tricks to count text in Excel. Let’s have a look at how you can count if a cell contains text in different conditions.

Before moving forward to learn how Excel counts cells with text, why not have a quick overview of what a Count If the function is.

COUNTIF Function

To be honest, counting cells containing text in a spreadsheet is not an easy task. That’s why the Count if the function is there to help you in this case. Using asterisk wildcards, you can count the number of cells having specific text with COUNTIF function.

The basic purpose of asterisk wildcards is to correspond to any characters or numbers. Putting them before and after any text, you can simply count the number of cells in which the text is found.  

Here is the general formula for the COUNTIF function:

=COUNTIF (Range, “*Text*”)

Example:

=COUNTIF (A2:A11, “*Class*”)

The last name “Class” when put in the asterisk, the COUNTIF formula simply calculates all string values within the range containing the name “Class.”

How to Count Number of Cells with Text in Excel

You can count if cell contains any text string or character by using two basic formulas.

Using COUNTIF Formula to Count All Cells with Text

The COUNTIF formula with an asterisk in the criteria argument is the main solution. For instance:

COUNTIF (range, “*”) (as mentioned above)

For more understanding of this formula, let’s have a look at which values are included and which are not:

Counted Values

• Special characters
• Cells with all kinds of text
• Numbers formatted as text
• Visually blank cells that have an empty string (“”), apostrophe (‘), space, or non-printing characters

Non-Counted Values

• Numbers
• Errors
• Dates
• Blank cells
• Logical values of TRUE or FALSE

For instance, in the range A2:A10, you can count if the cell contains text, apart from dates, numbers, logical values, blank cells, and errors.

Try using one of the following formulas:

COUNTIF(A2:A10, “*”)

SUMPRODUCT(–ISTEXT(A2:A10))

SUMPRODUCT( ISTEXT(A2:A10)*1)

Count If Cell Contains Text without Spaces and Empty Strings

Using the above-mentioned formulas can help you count all cells containing any text or character in them. However, in some situations, it might be tiring and confusing as certain cells may look blank, but in reality, they are not.

Keep in mind that empty strings, spaces, apostrophes, line breaks, etc are not easily countable with the human eye. However, they are not difficult to count using formulas.

Using the COUNTIFS function will let you exclude “false positive” blank cells from the count. For instance, in the range A2:A7, you can count cells with text that overlooks the space character:

COUNTIFS(A2:A7l”*”A2:A7,”<>”)

If your target range has any formula-driven data, it might be possible that some of the formulas can ultimately be an empty string (“”). You can even ignore these empty strings by replacing “*” with “*?*” in the criteria 1 argument:

=COUNTIFS(A2:A9,”*?*”, A2:A9, “<>”)

Here the question mark shows that you need to have at least one text character. You know that an empty string does not have characters in it, and it does not meet that’s why it is not included. Also, remember that blank cells starting with an apostrophe (‘) are not included as well.

Below in the image, you can see a space in A7 cell, an apostrophe in A8, and an empty string (=””) in A9.  

How to Count IF Cells Contain Specific Text  

As you already know that COUNTIF function is best for counting all cells containing text, you can even COUNTIF cell contains specific text. Suppose, we need to count the number of times the word used “Excel” in a specific cell range:

1. Open the spreadsheet in Excel you want to check.
2. Click on a blank cell to enter the formula.

1. In the blank cell, you need to type “=COUNTIF (range, criteria)”.

Using this formula will count all the number of cells having specific text within a cell range.

1. You have to enter the cell range you need to count for the “range”. Now, add the first and last cells separated with a colon. Enter “A2: A20” to count cells.

1. Now type “Excel” for the “Criteria.” It will help you count the number of cells using “Excel” in a certain range. Your formula will look like “=COUNTIF (A2:A20, “Excel”).

How To Count Cells with Color Text in Excel

Do you know Excel does not provide a formula to count cells with colored text?

However, still you cannot do this manually as counting all colored cells one by one is not an easy thing. By filtering the results, you can execute this process. Follow the steps given below:

1. Go to the spreadsheet you want to analyze.

1. Right-click a cell with the text of the color you want to count.

1. Select “Filter,” and then “Filter by Selected Cell’s Font Color” to filter the cells with the selected text color.

1. Get ready for counting the data range. Here is the formula if your text is from cell B2 to B20: “=SUBTOTAL (B2:B20)”

After pressing the “Enter” key, your filter will be applied and Excel will start showing the cells having that specific color and the remaining value–s will be hidden.

In the hidden rows, the “SUBTOTAL” function will not add the values. That’s why it will only count the selected color text.   

Summing Up Count If Cell Contains Text

For storing and analyzing the data, Excel is a huge platform that provides multiple functions for several problems. Both text and numbers are dealt in Excel. Around four hundred functions can use the COUNTIF function. It helps in finding the sum of cells containing specific data.  

Excel has many functions where a user needs to specify a single or multiple criteria to get the result. For example, if you want to count cells based on multiple criteria, you can use the COUNTIF or COUNTIFS functions in Excel.

This tutorial covers various ways of using a single or multiple criteria in COUNTIF and COUNTIFS function in Excel.

While I will primarily be focussing on COUNTIF and COUNTIFS functions in this tutorial, all these examples can also be used in other Excel functions that take multiple criteria as inputs (such as SUMIF, SUMIFS, AVERAGEIF, and AVERAGEIFS).

An Introduction to Excel COUNTIF and COUNTIFS Functions

Let’s first get a grip on using COUNTIF and COUNTIFS functions in Excel.

Excel COUNTIF Function (takes Single Criteria)

Excel COUNTIF function is best suited for situations when you want to count cells based on a single criterion. If you want to count based on multiple criteria, use COUNTIFS function.

Syntax

=COUNTIF(range, criteria)

Input Arguments

• range –  the range of cells which you want to count.
• criteria – the criteria that must be evaluated against the range of cells for a cell to be counted.

Excel COUNTIFS Function (takes Multiple Criteria)

Excel COUNTIFS function is best suited for situations when you want to count cells based on multiple criteria.

Syntax

=COUNTIFS(criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria2]…)

Input Arguments

• criteria_range1 – The range of cells for which you want to evaluate against criteria1.
• criteria1 – the criteria which you want to evaluate for criteria_range1 to determine which cells to count.
• [criteria_range2] – The range of cells for which you want to evaluate against criteria2.
• [criteria2] – the criteria which you want to evaluate for criteria_range2 to determine which cells to count.

Now let’s have a look at some examples of using multiple criteria in COUNTIF functions in Excel.

Using NUMBER Criteria in Excel COUNTIF Functions

#1 Count Cells when Criteria is EQUAL to a Value

To get the count of cells where the criteria argument is equal to a specified value, you can either directly enter the criteria or use the cell reference that contains the criteria.

Below is an example where we count the cells that contain the number 9 (which means that the criteria argument is equal to 9). Here is the formula:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,D3)

In the above example (in the pic), the criteria is in cell D3. You can also enter the criteria directly into the formula. For example, you can also use:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,9)

#2 Count Cells when Criteria is GREATER THAN a Value

To get the count of cells with a value greater than a specified value, we use the greater than operator (“>”). We could either use it directly in the formula or use a cell reference that has the criteria.

Whenever we use an operator in criteria in Excel, we need to put it within double quotes. For example, if the criteria is greater than 10, then we need to enter “>10” as the criteria (see pic below):

Here is the formula:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>10″)

You can also have the criteria in a cell and use the cell reference as the criteria. In this case, you need NOT put the criteria in double quotes:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,D3)

There could also be a case when you want the criteria to be in a cell, but don’t want it with the operator. For example, you may want the cell D3 to have the number 10 and not >10.

In that case, you need to create a criteria argument which is a combination of operator and cell reference (see pic below):

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>”&D3)

NOTE: When you combine an operator and a cell reference, the operator is always in double quotes. The operator and cell reference are joined by an ampersand (&).

#3 Count Cells when Criteria is LESS THAN a Value

To get the count of cells with a value less than a specified value, we use the less than operator (“<“). We could either use it directly in the formula or use a cell reference that has the criteria.

Whenever we use an operator in criteria in Excel, we need to put it within double quotes. For example, if the criterion is that the number should be less than 5, then we need to enter “<5” as the criteria (see pic below):

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”<5″)

You can also have the criteria in a cell and use the cell reference as the criteria. In this case, you need NOT put the criteria in double quotes (see pic below):

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,D3)

Also, there could be a case when you want the criteria to be in a cell, but don’t want it with the operator. For example, you may want the cell D3 to have the number 5 and not <5.

In that case, you need to create a criteria argument which is a combination of operator and cell reference:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”<“&D3)

NOTE: When you combine an operator and a cell reference, the operator is always in double quotes. The operator and cell reference are joined by an ampersand (&).

#4 Count Cells with Multiple Criteria – Between Two Values

To get a count of values between two values, we need to use multiple criteria in the COUNTIF function.

Here are two methods of doing this:

METHOD 1: Using COUNTIFS function

COUNTIFS function can handle multiple criteria as arguments and counts the cells only when all the criteria are TRUE. To count cells with values between two specified values (say 5 and 10), we can use the following COUNTIFS function:

=COUNTIFS($B$2:$B$11,”>5″,$B$2:$B$11,”<10″)

NOTE: The above formula does not count cells that contain 5 or 10. If you want to include these cells, use greater than equal to (>=) and less than equal to (<=) operators. Here is the formula:

=COUNTIFS($B$2:$B$11,”>=5″,$B$2:$B$11,”<=10″) 

You can also have these criteria in cells and use the cell reference as the criteria. In this case, you need NOT put the criteria in double quotes (see pic below):

You can also use a combination of cells references and operators (where the operator is entered directly in the formula). When you combine an operator and a cell reference, the operator is always in double quotes. The operator and cell reference are joined by an ampersand (&).

METHOD 2: Using two COUNTIF functions

If you have multiple criteria, you can either use COUNTIFS or create a combination of COUNTIF functions. The formula below would also do the same thing:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>5″)-COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>10″)

In the above formula, we first find the number of cells that have a value greater than 5 and we subtract the count of cells with a value greater than 10. This would give us the result as 5 (which is the number of cells that have values more than 5 and less than equal to 10).

If you want the formula to include both 5 and 10, use the following formula instead:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>=5″)-COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>10″)

If you want the formula to exclude both ‘5’ and ’10’ from the counting, use the following formula:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>=5″)-COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”>10″)-COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,10)

You can have these criteria in cells and use the cells references, or you can use a combination of operators and cells references.

Using TEXT Criteria in Excel Functions

#1 Count Cells when Criteria is EQUAL to a Specified text

To count cells that contain an exact match of the specified text, we can simply use that text as the criteria. For example, in the dataset (shown below in the pic), if I want to count all the cells with the name Joe in it, I can use the below formula:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”Joe”)

Since this is a text string, I need to put the text criteria in double quotes.

You can also have the criteria in a cell and then use that cell reference (as shown below):

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,E3)

NOTE: You can get wrong results if there are leading/trailing spaces in the criteria or criteria range. Make sure you clean the data before using these formulas.

#2 Count Cells when Criteria is NOT EQUAL to a Specified text

Similar to what we saw in the above example, you can also count cells that do not contain a specified text. To do this, we need to use the not equal to operator (<>).

Suppose you want to count all the cells that do not contain the name JOE, here is the formula that will do it:

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”<>Joe”)

You can also have the criteria in a cell and use the cell reference as the criteria. In this case, you need NOT put the criteria in double quotes (see pic below):

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,E3)

There could also be a case when you want the criteria to be in a cell but don’t want it with the operator. For example, you may want the cell D3 to have the name Joe and not <>Joe.

In that case, you need to create a criteria argument which is a combination of operator and cell reference (see pic below):

=COUNTIF($B$2:$B$11,”<>”&E3)

When you combine an operator and a cell reference, the operator is always in double quotes. The operator and cell reference are joined by an ampersand (&).

Using DATE Criteria in Excel COUNTIF and COUNTIFS Functions

Excel store date and time as numbers. So we can use it the same way we use numbers.

#1 Count Cells when Criteria is EQUAL to a Specified Date

To get the count of cells that contain the specified date, we would use the equal to operator (=) along with the date.

To use the date, I recommend using the DATE function, as it gets rid of any possibility of error in the date value. So, for example, if I want to use the date September 1, 2015, I can use the DATE function as shown below:

=DATE(2015,9,1)

This formula would return the same date despite regional differences. For example, 01-09-2015 would be September 1, 2015 according to the  US date syntax and January 09, 2015 according to the UK date syntax. However, this formula would always return September 1, 2105.

Here is the formula to count the number of cells that contain the date 02-09-2015:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,DATE(2015,9,2))

#2 Count Cells when Criteria is BEFORE or AFTER to a Specified Date

To count cells that contain date before or after a specified date, we can use the less than/greater than operators.

For example, if I want to count all the cells that contain a date that is after September 02, 2015, I can use the formula:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>”&DATE(2015,9,2))

Similarly, you can also count the number of cells before a specified date. If you want to include a date in the counting, use and ‘equal to’ operator along with ‘greater than/less than’ operator.

You can also use a cell reference that contains a date. In this case, you need to combine the operator (within double quotes) with the date using an ampersand (&).

See example below:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>”&F3)

#3 Count Cells with Multiple Criteria – Between Two Dates

To get a count of values between two values, we need to use multiple criteria in the COUNTIF function.

We can do this using two methods – One single COUNTIFS function or two COUNTIF functions.

METHOD 1: Using COUNTIFS function

COUNTIFS function can take multiple criteria as the arguments and counts the cells only when all the criteria are TRUE. To count cells with values between two specified dates (say September 2 and September 7), we can use the following COUNTIFS function:

=COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11,”>”&DATE(2015,9,2),$A$2:$A$11,”<“&DATE(2015,9,7))

The above formula does not count cells that contain the specified dates. If you want to include these dates as well, use greater than equal to (>=) and less than equal to (<=) operators. Here is the formula:

=COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11,”>=”&DATE(2015,9,2),$A$2:$A$11,”<=”&DATE(2015,9,7))

You can also have the dates in a cell and use the cell reference as the criteria. In this case, you can not have the operator with the date in the cells. You need to manually add operators in the formula (in double quotes) and add cell reference using an ampersand (&). See the pic below:

=COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11,”>”&F3,$A$2:$A$11,”<“&G3)

METHOD 2: Using COUNTIF functions

If you have multiple criteria, you can either use one COUNTIFS function or create a combination of two COUNTIF functions. The formula below would also do the trick:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>”&DATE(2015,9,2))-COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>”&DATE(2015,9,7))

In the above formula, we first find the number of cells that have a date after September 2 and we subtract the count of cells with dates after September 7. This would give us the result as 7 (which is the number of cells that have dates after September 2 and on or before September 7).

If you don’t want the formula to count both September 2 and September 7, use the following formula instead:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>=”&DATE(2015,9,2))-COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>”&DATE(2015,9,7))

If you want to exclude both the dates from counting, use the following formula:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>”&DATE(2015,9,2))-COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,”>”&DATE(2015,9,7)-COUNTIF($A$2:$A$11,DATE(2015,9,7)))

Also, you can have the criteria dates in cells and use the cells references (along with operators in double quotes joined using ampersand).

Using WILDCARD CHARACTERS in Criteria in COUNTIF & COUNTIFS Functions

There are three wildcard characters in Excel:

1. * (asterisk) – It represents any number of characters. For example, ex* could mean excel, excels, example, expert, etc.
2. ? (question mark) – It represents one single character. For example, Tr?mp could mean Trump or Tramp.
3. ~ (tilde) – It is used to identify a wildcard character (~, *, ?) in the text.

You can use COUNTIF function with wildcard characters to count cells when other inbuilt count function fails. For example, suppose you have a data set as shown below:

Now let’s take various examples:

#1 Count Cells that contain Text

To count cells with text in it, we can use the wildcard character * (asterisk). Since asterisk represents any number of characters, it would count all cells that have any text in it. Here is the formula:

=COUNTIFS($C$2:$C$11,”*”)

Note: The formula above ignores cells that contain numbers, blank cells, and logical values, but would count the cells contain an apostrophe (and hence appear blank) or cells that contain empty string (=””) which may have been returned as a part of a formula.

Here is a detailed tutorial on handling cases where there is an empty string or apostrophe.

Here is a detailed tutorial on handling cases where there are empty strings or apostrophes.

Below is a video that explains different scenarios of counting cells with text in it.

#2 Count Non-blank Cells

If you are thinking of using COUNTA function, think again.

Try it and it might fail you. COUNTA will also count a cell that contains an empty string (often returned by formulas as =”” or when people enter only an apostrophe in a cell). Cells that contain empty strings look blank but are not, and thus counted by the COUNTA function.

COUNTA will also count a cell that contains an empty string (often returned by formulas as =”” or when people enter only an apostrophe in a cell). Cells that contain empty strings look blank but are not, and thus counted by the COUNTA function.

So if you use the formula =COUNTA(A1:A11), it returns 11, while it should return 10.

Here is the fix:

=COUNTIF($A$1:$A$11,”?*”)+COUNT($A$1:$A$11)+SUMPRODUCT(–ISLOGICAL($A$1:$A$11))

Let’s understand this formula by breaking it down:

#3 Count Cells that contain specific text

Let’s say we want to count all the cells where the sales rep name begins with J. This can easily be achieved by using a wildcard character in COUNTIF function. Here is the formula:

=COUNTIFS($C$2:$C$11,”J*”) 

The criteria J* specifies that the text in a cell should begin with J and can contain any number of characters.

If you want to count cells that contain the alphabet anywhere in the text, flank it with an asterisk on both sides. For example, if you want to count cells that contain the alphabet “a” in it, use *a* as the criteria.

This article is unusually long compared to my other articles. Hope you have enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

You May Also Find the following Excel tutorials useful:

• Count the number of words in Excel.
• Count Cells Based on Background Color in Excel.
• How to Sum a Column in Excel (5 Really Easy Ways)