Three counting functions that confuse almost every beginner. Here's exactly when to use each one.
COUNT — how many cells have numbers. COUNTIF — how many cells match one condition. COUNTIFS — how many cells match multiple conditions.
=COUNT(B2:B100)
-- Counts cells that contain numbers
-- Ignores text, blanks, TRUE/FALSE, errors
-- Useful: "how many entries have a value?" or "how many rows have been filled in?"=COUNTIF(B2:B100, "North") text match
=COUNTIF(C2:C100, ">1000") numeric condition
=COUNTIF(A2:A100, "<>") non-blank cells
=COUNTIF(A2:A100, "app*") wildcard: starts with "app"=COUNTIFS(B2:B100, "North", C2:C100, "Active")
-- Count rows where B = North AND C = Active
=COUNTIFS(B2:B100, "North", D2:D100, ">="&DATE(2026,1,1))
-- North AND date on or after 1 Jan 2026| Use case | Function |
|---|---|
| Count cells with numbers | COUNT |
| Count non-blank cells | COUNTA |
| Count matching one text or number condition | COUNTIF |
| Count matching two or more conditions | COUNTIFS |
| Count matching condition OR another condition | COUNTIF(...) + COUNTIF(...) |
Use COUNTIFS by default — it handles one or multiple conditions and replaces COUNTIF entirely. Only use COUNT when you specifically need to know whether cells contain numbers (not just any value).
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