COUNT

Microsoft Office Excel 2003

See Also

Counts the number of cells that contain numbers and also numbers within the list of arguments. Use COUNT to get the number of entries in a number field that's in a range or array of numbers.

Syntax

COUNT(value1,value2,...)

Value1, value2, ...    are 1 to 30 arguments that can contain or refer to a variety of different types of data, but only numbers are counted.

Remarks

  • Arguments that are numbers, dates, or text representations of numbers are counted; arguments that are error values or text that cannot be translated into numbers are ignored.
  • If an argument is an array or reference, only numbers in that array or reference are counted. Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are ignored. If you need to count logical values, text, or error values, use the COUNTA function.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

ShowHow?

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic. Do not select the row or column headers.

    Selecting an example from Help

    Selecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Tools menu, point to Formula Auditing, and then click Formula Auditing Mode.
 
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Data
Sales
12/8/2008
 
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22.24
TRUE
#DIV/0!
Formula Description (Result)
=COUNT(A2:A8) Counts the number of cells that contain numbers in the list above (3)
=COUNT(A5:A8) Counts the number of cells that contain numbers in the last 4 rows of the list (2)
=COUNT(A2:A8,2) Counts the number of cells that contain numbers in the list, and the value 2 (4)