Returns the number of areas in a reference. An area is a range of contiguous cells or a single cell.
Syntax
AREAS(reference)
Reference is a reference to a cell or range of cells and can refer to multiple areas. If you want to specify several references as a single argument, then you must include extra sets of parentheses so that the comma will not be interpreted as a field separator. See the following example.
Example
The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank spreadsheet.
How?- Create a blank spreadsheet.
- Select the example in the Help topic.
Selecting an example from Help
- Press CTRL+C.
- In the spreadsheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
- To switch between viewing the formula that returns the result and the result in the cell, select the cell and press F2 and then ENTER, or click Commands and Options on the spreadsheet toolbar, click the Formula tab, and look in the Formula in active cell (active cell) box.
| Formula | Description (Result) |
|---|---|
| =AREAS(B2:D4) | Number of areas in the range (1) |
| =AREAS((B2:D4,E5,F6:I9)) | Number of areas in the range (3) |
| =AREAS((B2:D4,B2)) | Number of areas in the range (2) |