Using text data in Microsoft Excel is part of the daily routine for those managing customer lists, feedback forms, product databases, or survey responses. Counting text entries in a spreadsheet helps with data cleaning, auditing, reporting, and quick business decisions. Excel helps you count text accurately. Whether you’re organizing emails, tracking product names, or analyzing survey answers, it offers powerful functions.
What is Text in Excel?
In Excel, text refers to any string of characters that is not a number or a formula result. Text entries can include names, email addresses, job titles, product codes, responses, and more. Excel handles text and numbers differently. It has special functions to analyze and manage text data.
For example:
- “John Doe” is text.
- “Product A12B” is text.
- “123” typed as-is may be a number, but if entered with an apostrophe like ‘123, it becomes text.
Knowing if a cell has text is key. This matters when you filter, sort, or use functions that depend on data types.
How to Count Text in Excel
Excel provides several ways to count text entries in a column, row, or range. Here are the most accurate and commonly used methods:
Count Only Text Cells Using COUNTIF
To count how many cells contain text in a range:
=COUNTIF(A2:A100, “*”)
Explanation:
- The asterisk (*) is a wildcard that matches any text.
- This formula excludes purely numeric values and empty cells.
Count Text and Exclude Numbers and Blanks
To ensure you’re counting only text entries, and not numbers or formulas:
=SUMPRODUCT(–ISTEXT(A2:A100))
Explanation:
- ISTEXT() returns TRUE if a cell contains text.
- SUMPRODUCT(–ISTEXT(…)) converts TRUE/FALSE to 1/0 and then sums the count.
Count Specific Text (e.g., “Completed”)
If you want to count cells that contain a specific word or phrase:
=COUNTIF(B2:B100, “Completed”)
This returns how many times the word “Completed” appears exactly.
To count cells that contain the word anywhere in the text:
=COUNTIF(B2:B100, “*Completed*”)
Count Text in Multiple Columns
To count text across a multi-column range:
=SUMPRODUCT(–ISTEXT(A2:C100))
This scans every cell in the range A2 to C100 and counts only the ones with text.
Count Text Without Counting Blanks
To ignore blank cells and count only the filled text ones:
=COUNTIFS(A2:A100, “<>”, A2:A100, “*”)
It counts only non-empty cells that also contain text.
Practical Examples
Example 1: Count Customer Names
Assume column A contains a list of names (text values). To count how many customers are listed:
=COUNTIF(A2:A500, “*”)
Useful for attendance tracking, email lists, or CRM exports.
Example 2: Count Status Labels Like “Pending”, “Shipped”
If column B holds the status of orders, use:
=COUNTIF(B2:B500, “Pending”)
This is helpful in logistics and eCommerce businesses to monitor real-time progress.
Example 3: Count Feedback Comments That Are Not Empty
If column C has customer feedback, use:
=COUNTIFS(C2:C500, “<>”, C2:C500, “*”)
This ensures only actual comments are counted, not empty or null values.
Benefits of Knowing How to Count Text in Excel
Improves Data Accuracy
Counting text entries ensures that your dataset is complete and valid. For example, in a form collection sheet, you might want to check if all email fields are filled. Counting text checks if key fields are empty or filled with numbers by mistake.
Helps in Cleaning and Formatting
Data cleaning is a vital step in any analysis. Count rows with text and those with numbers. This helps you find mismatches, fix typos, or remove irrelevant entries. For example, in a survey sheet, you can quickly spot rows with missing feedback.
Boosts Reporting and Decision-Making
Counting specific text values helps you make better summaries and reports, such as total responses by category. This knowledge provides valuable insights. Count how many customers said “Yes” in a survey. Also, note how many projects are marked as “Delayed.” This helps executives make quick decisions.
Enables Smart Filtering
You can use formulas like COUNTIFS or wildcards in COUNTIF. This helps you group your data by keyword or status. This is useful for content teams tracking tag use. It’s also great for HR teams looking at labels by department. Example: Count all cells containing the word “Remote” in a job list.
Ideal for Email or CRM Validation
In business apps, counting text ensures that email fields, name fields, and status indicators are filled out correctly. This improves quality before you upload data into email marketing or CRM tools.
How to Count Cells With Text in Excel (Mysterious Formula as NEVER Seen Before)
FAQ’s
Is there a way to count text across multiple columns?
Yes. Use =SUMPRODUCT(–ISTEXT(A2:C100)) to scan all cells in the selected range and return the number of cells with text.
Can I use countifs to count only specific text entries?
Absolutely. You can use =COUNTIFS(A2:A100, “Approved”) to count only cells that exactly match the word “Approved”. You can also add more conditions to filter the data further.
Does excel differentiate between upper and lowercase text when counting?
No, functions like COUNTIF are not case-sensitive. “Pending” and “PENDING” will be counted the same. If you need a case-sensitive count, you’d need to use an array formula with EXACT().
How do I count unique text values only?
Use the formula =COUNTA(UNIQUE(A2:A100)) in Excel 365 or newer. This will count only distinct text entries and ignore duplicates.
Conclusion
Counting text in Excel is not just about formulas. It’s a key skill that helps with data analysis, reporting, and decision-making. Excel helps you analyze customer responses, review product statuses, and validate user-entered fields. It offers strong tools to count what you need.