by The tutorial explains how to use COUNTIFS and COUNTIF formulas with multiple criteria in Excel based on AND as well as OR logic. You will find a number of examples for different data types - numbers, dates, text, wildcard characters, non-blank cells and more.
Of all Excel functions, COUNTIFS and COUNTIF are probably most often mixed up because they look very much alike and both are purposed for counting cells based on the specified criteria.
The difference is that COUNTIF is designed for counting cells with a single condition in one range, whereas COUNTIFS can evaluate different criteria in the same or in different ranges. The aim of this tutorial is to demonstrate different approaches and help you choose the most efficient formula for each particular task.
Excel COUNTIFS function - syntax and usage
The Excel COUNTIFS function counts cells across multiple ranges based on one or several conditions. The function is available in Excel 365, 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, Excel 2010, and Excel 2007, so you can use the below examples in any Excel version.
COUNTIFS syntax
The syntax of the COUNTIFS function is as follows:
- criteria_range1 (required) - defines the first range to which the first condition (criteria1) shall be applied.
- criteria1 (required) - sets the condition in the form of a number, cell reference, text string, expression or another Excel function. The criteria defines which cells shall be counted and can be expressed as 10, "<=32", A6, "sweets".
- [criteria_range2, criteria2]… (optional) - these are additional ranges and their associated criteria. You can specify up to 127 range/criteria pairs in your formulas.
In fact, you don't have to remember the syntax of the COUNTIF function by heart. Microsoft Excel will display the function's arguments as soon as you start typing; the argument you are entering at the moment is highlighted in bold.
Excel COUNTIFS - things to remember!
- You can use the COUNTIFS function in Excel to count cells in a single range with a single condition as well as in multiple ranges with multiple conditions. If the latter, only those cells that meet all of the specified conditions are counted.
- Each additional range must have the same number of rows and columns as the first range (criteria_range1 argument).
- Both contiguous and non-contiguous ranges are allowed.
- If the criteria is a reference to an empty cell, the COUNTIFS function treats it as a zero value (0).
- You can use the wildcard characters in criteria - asterisk (*) and question mark (?). See this example for full details.
How to use COUNTIFS and COUNTIF with multiple criteria in Excel
Below you will find a number of formula examples that demonstrate how to use the COUNTIFS and COUNTIF functions in Excel to evaluate multiple conditions.
How to count cells with multiple criteria (AND logic)
This scenario is the easiest one, since the COUNTIFS function in Excel is designed to count only those cells for which all of the specified conditions are TRUE. We call it the AND logic, because Excel's AND function works this way.
Formula 1. COUNTIFS formula with multiple criteria
Suppose you have a product list like shown in the screenshot below. You want to get a count of items that are in stock (value in column B is greater than 0) but have not been sold yet (value is column C is equal to 0).
The task can be accomplished by using this formula:
=COUNTIFS(B2:B7,">0", C2:C7,"=0")
And the count is 2 ("Cherries" and "Lemons"):
Formula 2. COUNTIFS formula with two criteria
When you want to count items with identical criteria, you still need to supply each criteria_range / criteria pair individually.
For example, here's the right formula to count items that have 0 both in column B and column C:
=COUNTIFS($B$2:$B$7,"=0", $C$2:$C$7,"=0")
This COUNTIFS formula returns 1 because only "Grapes" have "0" value in both columns.
Using a simpler formula with a single criteria_range like COUNTIFS(B2:C7,"=0") would yield a different result - the total count of cells in the range B2:C7 containing a zero (which is 4 in this example).
How to count cells with multiple criteria (OR logic)
As you have seen in the above examples, counting cells that meet all of the specified criteria is easy because the COUNTIFS function is designed to work this way.
But what if you want to count cells for which at least one of the specified conditions is TRUE, i.e. based on the OR logic? Overall, there are two ways to do this - by adding up several COUNTIF formulas or using a SUM COUNTIFS formula with an array constant.
Formula 1. Add up two or more COUNTIF or COUNITFS formulas
In the table below, supposing you want to count orders with the "Cancelled" and "Pending" status. To have it doen, you can simply write 2 regular Countif formulas and add up the results:
=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$11,"Cancelled") + COUNTIF($C$2:$C$11,"Pending")
In case each of the functions is supposed to evaluate more than one condition, use COUNTIFS instead of COUNTIF. For example, to get the count of "Cancelled" and "Pending" orders for "Apples" use this formula:
=COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11, "Apples", $C$2:$C$11,"Cancelled") + COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11, "Apples", $C$2:$C$11,"Pending")
Formula 2. SUM COUNTIFS with an array constant
In situations when you have to evaluate a lot of criteria, the above approach is not the best way to go because your formula would grow too big in size. To perform the same calculations in a more compact formula, list all of your criteria in an array constant, and supply that array to the criteria argument of the COUNTIFS function. To get the total count, embed COUNTIFS inside the SUM function, like this:
In our sample table, to count orders with the status "Cancelled" or "Pending" or "In transit", the formula would go as follows:
=SUM(COUNTIFS($C$2:$C$11, {"cancelled", "pending", "in transit"}))
In a similar manner, you can count cells based on two or more criteria_range / criteria pairs. For instance, to get the number of "Apples" orders that are "Cancelled" or "Pending" or "In transit", use this formula:
=SUM(COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11,"apples",$C$2:$C$11,{"cancelled","pending","in transit"}))
You can find a few more ways to count cells with OR logic in this tutorial: Excel COUNTIF and COUNTIFS with OR conditions.
How to count numbers between 2 specified numbers
By and large, COUNTIFS formulas for numbers fall into 2 categories - based on several conditions (explained in the above examples) and between the two values you specify. The latter can be accomplished in two ways - by using the COUNTIFS function or by subtracting one COUNTIF from another.
Formula 1. COUNTIFS to count cells between two numbers
To find out how many numbers between 5 and 10 (not including 5 and 10) are contained in cells C2 through C10, use this formula:
=COUNTIFS(C2:C10,">5", C2:C10,"<10")
To include 5 and 10 in the count, use the "greater than or equal to" and "less than or equal to" operators:
=COUNTIFS(B2:B10,">=5", B2:B10,"<=10")
Formula 2. COUNTIF formulas to count numbers between X and Y
The same result can be achieved by subtracting one Countif formula from another. The first one counts how many numbers are greater than the lower bound value (5 in this example). The second formula returns the count of numbers that are greater than the upper bound value (10 in this case). The difference between the first and second number is the result you are looking for.
- =COUNTIF(C2:C10,">5")-COUNTIF(C2:C10,">=10") - counts how many numbers greater than 5 and less than 10 are in the range C2:C10. This formula will return the same count as shown in the screenshot above.
- =COUNTIF(C2:C10, ">=5")-COUNTIF(C2:C10, ">10") - the formula counts how many numbers between 5 and 10 are in the range C2:C10, including 5 and 10.
How to use cell references in COUNTIFS formulas
When using logical operators such as ">", "<", "<=" or ">=" together with cell references in your Excel COUNTIFS formulas, remember to enclose the operator in "double quotes" and
add an ampersand (&) before a cell reference to construct a text string.
In a sample dataset below, let's count "Apples" orders with amount greater than $200. With criteria_range1 in cells A2:A11 and criteria_range2 in B2:B11, you can use this formula:
=COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11, "Apples", $B$2:$B$11, ">200")
Or, you can input your criteria values in certain cells, say F1 and F2, and reference those cells in your formula:
=COUNTIFS($A$2:$A$11, $F$1, $B$2:$B$11, ">"&$F$2)
Please notice the use of absolute cell references both in the criteria and criteria_range arguments, which prevents the formula from being broken when copied to other cells.
For more information about the use of an ampersand in COUNTIF and COUNTIFS formulas, please see Excel COUNTIF - frequently asked questions.
How to use COUNTIFS with wildcard characters
In Excel COUNTIFS formulas, you can use the following wildcard characters:
- Question mark (?) - matches any single character, use it to count cells starting and/or ending with certain characters.
- Asterisk (*) - matches any sequence of characters, you use it to count cells containing a specified word or a character(s) as part of the cell's contents.
Tip. If you want to count cells with an actual question mark or asterisk, type a tilde (~) before an asterisk or question mark.
Now let's see how you can use a wildcard char in real-life COUNTIFS formulas in Excel. Suppose, you have a list of projects in column A. You wish to know how many projects are already assigned to someone, i.e. have any name in column B. And because we are learning how to use the COUNTIFS function with multiple criteria, let's add a second condition - the End Date in column D should also be set.
Here is the formula that works a treat:
=COUNTIFS(B2:B10,"*",D2:D10,"<>"&""))
Please note, you cannot use a wildcard character in the 2nd criteria because you have dates rather that text values in column D. That is why, you use the criteria that finds non-blank cells: "<>"&""
COUNTIFS and COUNTIF with multiple criteria for dates
The COUNTIFS and COUNTIF formulas you use for dates are very much similar to the above formulas for numbers.
Example 1. Count dates in a specific date range
To count the dates that fall in a certain date range, you can also use either a COUNTIFS formula with two criteria or a combination of two COUNTIF functions.
For example, the following formulas count the number of dates in cells C2 through C10 that fall between 1-Jun-2014 and 7-Jun-2014, inclusive:
=COUNTIFS(C2:C9, ">=6/1/2014", C2:C9, "<=6/7/2014")
=COUNTIF(C2:C9, ">=6/1/2014") - COUNTIF(C2:C9, ">6/7/2014")
Example 2. Count dates with multiple conditions
In the same manner, you can use a COUNTIFS formula to count the number of dates in different columns that meet 2 or more conditions. For instance, the below formula will find out how many products were purchased after the 20th of May and delivered after the 1st of June:
=COUNTIFS(C2:C9, ">5/1/2014", D2:D9, ">6/7/2014")
Example 3. Count dates with multiple conditions based on the current date
You can use Excel's TODAY() function in combination with COUNTIF to count dates based on the current date.
For example, the following COUNTIF formula with two ranges and two criteria will tell you how many products have already been purchased but not delivered yet.
=COUNTIFS(C2:C9, "<"&TODAY(), D2:D9, ">"&TODAY())
This formula allows for many possible variations. For instance, you can tweak it to count how many products were purchased more than a week ago and are not delivered yet:
=COUNTIFS(C2:C9, "<="&TODAY()-7, D2:D9, ">"&TODAY())
This is how you count cells with multiple criteria in Excel. I hope you will find these examples helpful. Anyway, I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!
2035 comments
Good day
i need to count the sum of h7:h21 if d21>0 and then count the sum of h21:h22 if d22>0 and count h22:h52 if d52>0
my problem is that there is no constant cell but constant columns.
The values in the cells in column d will always vary.
can you please assist.
On sheet one I have date joined organisation followed by benefit claimed.
One sheet 2 I have the quarterly date range that I need totals for.
Say Date joined is column A sheet 1, Benefit is column B sheet 1
Date I'm calculating from is cell A1 sheet 2 and Date to is cell A2, sheet 2
I need to know how I can calculate the number of times a specific benefit (say EI or JSA) is listed for people who have joined the organisation within the set date parameters on sheet 2.
Please help!
Hi ,
I am trying to find a count of a particular Number or Letter in a row , i am writing the query but its giving me 0...can you advise
Hi ,
I am trying to find a count of a particular Numnber or Letter in a row , i am writing the query but its giving me 0...can you advsie
I am a desperate beginner and am very "stuck"
BACKGROUND
STEP 1: I have counted 300 trees in our settlement. Each tree was listed by species in Column B. Each tree's health was rated on a scale of 1-5 ion column E.
STEP 2:
I was able to countif and identified 25 species.
MY QUESTION
I want to learn, by species, how many received each health rating, the scale of 1-5.
I think I need countifs, but cannot make that work. Please please help me. Thanks
I have read a book and viewed tutorials, so have tried hard to figure this out on my own.
Hi
I wanted to count in Column "C" when two conditions are met from column "A" and Column "B", like A:A="W" and B:B="KK" count from row "C". Data is
Freq Name Value
D KK 3
D KK 3
D LL 3
W KK 3
W LL 3
Hi, Junaid,
you can try this one:
=COUNTIFS(A2:A6,"W",B2:B6,"KK")
if you take a closer look at this point of the article above, you'll understand how the part of the formula works.
Thanks I got much help nothing words to express
Hi!
I am trying to count two things. (1) which of my customers from January ordered more boxes in February than in January, but excluding customers from February who were not customers in January. Cells a2:a51 list all my customers by name. Cells b2:b51 lists the amount of boxes purchased in January. Cells c2:c51 lists the amount of boxes purchased in February. When using Countifs, I can't figure out how to make the Criteria conditional. I tried using: =countifs(b:2:b51,">0",b:2:b51,">a2:a51"), but that doesn't seem to work. Any advice?
(2) Count the number of customers I lost in February (i.e. customers who purchased boxes in January but none in February). I tried =countifs(a2:a51,">0",b2:b51,"<1") I noticed that works if I have a 0 value in the b2:b51 range. Any way I can make the count work if the value in column b is Blank?
Thank you!!
hi mam if we have age and gender in a single cell how can we count only gender out of it please help me out.i mean only male or female
Trying to add countifs from two sheets in a workbook to a third sheet in the same workbook but I get zero.
Function below.
=COUNTIFS('sheet1 Data'!$A:$A,Tracker!A3,'sheet1 Data'!$J:$J,Tracker!C$2)+COUNTIFS('sheet2 Data'!$A:$A,Tracker!A3,'sheet2 Data'!$J:$J,Tracker!C$2)
Column A represent Date Range
Cell A3 represents the date value
Column C represent Value Range
Cell C2 represents the value
Hi!
Never mind. Function is working.. thank you.
Hi, Can I refer to a cell with text to avoid typing the text for a second condition? Instead of typing the name of employees that match, I'd like to refer to a cell with that name, so I can copy and paste the formula for the names of the other employees. I hope you understand what I need! thanks
Tomás
Sorry, my mistake! it can be done without any problem!! sorry again.
I am to insert serial number to each output (tick mark only) which is a result of this formula; =IF(AND(E11>=1,F11=0),"a",""). The formula is a output for those households whose educational credentials meets my requirements. And I pick those households for my selection. Those with "Nil" output need not count as they are not necessary.
Regards
Can i use criteria average with criteria sum in rule if
I have some workers' salaries and I want to use a class to find out how many classes are in the category of 200, how many are in the category of 100, how many are in the category of 50, how many are in the category of 20, how many are in the category of 10, 5 and how many of the 1 category
Hi !
I need help with the following report :
Status ColoumnA ColoumnB ColoumnC
Prd.sold A c
On hold B
Prd.Tran A
Prd.sold B
I need to understand whether can we use countif condition to check how many prod.sold and On hold customers have opted for ColoumnA product ?
=SUM(COUNTIFS(A2:A8,{"Prd.Sold","OnHold"},B2:B8,"A"))
Hi!
Following is one of the report formats that i need help with :
Status ColoumnA ColoumnB
Hi
I have a spread sheet that consist of a reporting period, a document type and a keyword.
I am trying to do a bar graph that auto changes when information is added.
reporting period is 2017-Q1, 2017-Q2, the document type will always be "Initial Event Notification" and the Keywords are what need to be counted : near miss, injury, breach.
so i figured out the below is the info i am wanting.
countif reporting period = (2017-Q1) & document type = (Initial Event Notification) & keyword = (Injury).
I just havent used excel formulas for a while and am not getting my head around it today.
Hello, can you please help me with this. Im trying to find a formula when "open" is entered in example cell B1 it would calculate the date + 2 days entered in a1 in c3.
Hi Kay,
Here you go:
=IF(B1="open", A1+2)
If the date does not display correctly in the formula cell, be sure to set the desired Date format to it.
Okay I have a survey where respondents can check multiple boxes of various errors found. When it imported into excel it puts these responses into one cell for each case under one column.
One case entry can have multiple categorical answers (or no findings at all) all located on a single cell. Example: Not addressing OWL or NHL screens; Failed to explain how income was calculated; Actual versus Anticipated
I am needing to be able to just look at each piece individually, for example just the Actual versus Anticipated. How do I do a count were it will identify that answer. Right now all I am identifying is when it was the only finding selected. It is not picking up and counting that answer when multiple items have been selected.
Please help!!!!
Hello,
I need a formula linke
=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$11,"Apple") + COUNTIF($C$2:$C$11,"5Orange")
but I need to count the "5Orange" as 5 not 1.
For example if I have in A2 Apple and in B2 5Orange, I want the formula to give me the result of 6.
Is there anyway I could could count the 5Orange as 5.
=COUNTIF($C$2:$C$11,"Apple") + (5*COUNTIF($C$2:$C$11,"5Orange"))
Good Morning,
I need a countifs function that allows me to compare two columns of data and count how many time one words is associated with a word in the first column. Basically I need to count how many people in a particular company have the title "director" but my list is of 1,000 companies. So, if column A is company and Column B are the varying titles, I need to know for each company how many directors they have based off the titles listed in B.
I feel like I will need some kind of array formula? Maybe Vlookup too? idk
PLEASE HELP :)
Sorry seems like posted several times. Apologise.
Dear Svetlana,
Greetings, we meet again. I was trying to put a formula by using COUNTIFS, but it is coming with Error that too many arguments. Can you please advise.
A B C
Details Payment Authority to Waive
Bill 5000 If the value in B2 is less than 5000 then it will
show Manager, more than 5000 it will show General
Manager, more than 10000 it will show Director.
Late Fine 6000 The values will select/show and will show Manager
Total 11000 The values will select/show and will show Director
Thank you for the advise. Have a nice day.
Kaiser
This can be solved by IF function (not CountIF).