Excel COUNTA Function

Using the Excel COUNTA Function

Excel COUNTA Function

Summary

The Excel COUNTA function will return a count of cells that are not empty. Cells to be counted may contain numbers, text, logical values, errors values, and empty text ("").

Syntax

=COUNTA (value1, [value2], ...)

Syntax Breakdown

Value1
Required. Values that you want to count.

Value2
Value 2 and subsequent values are optional. The function can accept up to 255 values.

Usage Notes

COUNTA counts the number of cells that contain text, numbers, logical values, error values, and empty text (""). The function does not count cells that are empty. The function will count hard coded values.

The function will count cells that appear to be empty, but in fact contain invisible characters or empty strings returned by another formula. To check which cells are actually blank:

1. Press Ctrl + G

2. Select "Special"

Excel Go-To Shortcut

3. Select "Blanks"

Excel Go-To Shortcut1

4. Confirm no blank cells are found

Excel Go-To Shortcut2

If you only want to count cells that contain numbers, use the COUNT function.

If you only want to count cells that meet a specific criteria, use the COUNTIF or COUNTIFS function.