How to use the COUNT function in Microsoft Excel

Let's look at some Excel Count function examples and explore how to use the Count function as a worksheet function in Microsoft Excel:

Summary

The Excel COUNT function returns the count of values that are numbers, generally cells that contain numbers. If a cell contains text, blank space or any other non-number, it is not counted.
Values can be supplied as constants, cell references, or ranges. Use the COUNT function to get the number of entries in a number field that is in a range or array of numbers.
The COUNT function is a built-in function in Excel that is categorized as a Statistical Function. It function ignores empty cells, the logical values TRUE and FALSE, and text values.

Purpose

Count the numbers.

Return value

A number representing a count of numbers.

What Does It Do ?

• This function counts the number of numeric entries in a list.
• It can be used either horizontally or vertically.
• It function ignores empty cells, the logical values TRUE and FALSE, and text values.

Syntax

Count function has two syntax and hence they can be written in two different ways:

=COUNT(value1, value2, ...) or
=COUNT(Range1,Range2,Range3...)

Parameters or Arguments

Value: A numeric value or reference.
Range: A group of cells.

Formatting

No special formatting is needed.

Usage notes

The COUNT function counts the number of numbers in supplied values. Values can be items, cell references, or ranges. For example, =COUNT(1, 2, "apple") returns 2. And COUNT(A1:A10) will count the number of numeric values in the range A1:A10.

Notes:

• Count can handle up to 255 additional values.
• The function belongs to COUNT function family. There are five variants of COUNT functions: COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, COUNTIF, and COUNTIFS.
• If we wish to count logical values and text, we should use the COUNTA function. If we wish to count based on certain criteria, then we should use COUNTIF.
• The arguments can contain or refer to a variety of different types of data, but only numbers are counted.
• Since dates are stored as numbers, the COUNT function will include any cells that contain dates.
• Error values or text values that cannot be coerced into numbers are not counted.
• The logical values TRUE and FALSE are not counted.
• Empty cells and text are not counted.

Excel Count Function Examples

The following spreadsheet shows six simple examples of the Excel Count function:

The above examples show that each argument to the Min function can be supplied as a single value or cell reference, or as an array of values or cells.

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