Excel COUNTIF Function (Count With One Condition) – Examples & Practice
Practice the Excel COUNTIF function online with an interactive grid, instant feedback, and clear formula help.
Instruction
Count how many cells in A2:A6 are equal to "North".
Formula Syntax
=COUNTIF(range, criteria)
- range: The group of cells you want to count.
- criteria: A number, expression, cell reference, or text string that defines which cells to count.
What it does
COUNTIF counts how many cells meet a single criterion. It is one of the fastest ways to quantify “how many match this rule?”
Excel COUNTIF Function Examples
Count a label
=COUNTIF(A2:A6, "North")
Counts cells equal to North.
Count greater than
=COUNTIF(C2:C6, ">300")
Counts numeric cells above 300.
sales-by-region.xlsx
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Region | Rep | Sales |
| 2 | North | Liam | 320 |
| 3 | South | Mia | 280 |
| 4 | North | Noah | 410 |
| 5 | West | Olivia | 295 |
| 6 | South | Paul | 360 |
| 7 | Output |
Input Formula
Need Help?
Tips
- TRIM/LOWER keys when matches fail.
- Move to COUNTIFS when you add another dimension.
- Document wildcard usage for your team.
COUNTIF Function Use Cases
- Pipeline stage tallies
- Survey response frequencies
- QA checks on threshold breaches
- Simple dashboard counters
- Teaching conditional logic
Common mistakes - COUNTIF function not working
- Criteria not quoted when it must be text
- Wildcards unintentionally matching too much
- Using COUNTIF for multi-column AND logic (use COUNTIFS)
- Counting formatted numbers as text incorrectly
- Whole-column references slowing workbooks
FAQ
COUNTIF vs COUNTIFS?
COUNTIF supports one criterion. COUNTIFS supports multiple.
Can I count blanks?
Use COUNTBLANK, or criteria like "" carefully—understand what “blank” means in your data.
Wildcards?
Many COUNTIF uses support * and ? patterns for partial text matches.
Why is my count too high?
Partial wildcard matches or hidden spaces can inflate results.
Does COUNTIF count errors?
Criteria can target errors, but typical counts exclude unless explicitly matched.
Comparison
| Function | Criteria |
|---|---|
| COUNTIF | One |
| COUNTIFS | Multiple |
| COUNT | Numbers only |
Example
=COUNTIF(A2:A6, "North")
Advanced examples
Distinct-ish checks
COUNTIF on a column against itself can help find duplicates:
=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$20, A2)>1 in a helper column flags repeats.