Course / Spreadsheet Basics

Counting cells

COUNT, COUNTA and COUNTBLANK: count numbers, filled cells and gaps. Beginner · 4 min · COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK

Excel has three basic counting functions, and the difference matters:

• COUNT counts cells that contain numbers
• COUNTA counts cells that are not empty: numbers, text, anything
• COUNTBLANK counts empty cells

Steps

1. In F2, count how many guests replied with a number in column B.

2. In F3, count the guests on the list (the names in column A).

3. In F4, count the guests who have not replied at all (empty cells in column B).

4. In F5, total the party sizes to see how many people are coming so far.

Remember

• COUNT counts numbers only.
• COUNTA counts anything that isn't empty.
• COUNTBLANK counts the gaps.

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