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!
2039 comments
Hi how can a get a total count for every month thru out the year for example if a user has a yes or no value in a cell i want to get a total of all the yes in that year and show the month where the yes occured?
Check In Check Out Guest Name Room Category Room Booked
02-Dec-19 03-Dec-19 A Deluxe 3
02-Dec-19 05-Dec-19 B Super Deluxe 1
06-Dec-19 08-Dec-19 C Deluxe 1
06-Dec-19 07-Dec-19 D Super Deluxe 2
i want to know how many "deluxe" booked on 2dec,3dec... as so on? and same for other room category.
Thanks
HI
PLEASE HELP WITH THIS TABLE
X/Y VALUES
X 9
X 23
Y 13
Y 7
X 29
X 19
WHAT I WANT IS
COUNT OF X
1. LESS 10
2. BETWEEN 11-15
3. BETWEEN 16-20
4. BETWEEN 21-25
AND ABOVE 25.
WHAT FORMULA SHOULD I USE?
HELP
I have doubt which formula to apply to find the difference in clumn two with the repeated seqence, as below, A1 781
A1 781
A1 781
A1 781
A1 800
A1 800
A1 801
A1 802
A2 410
A2 410
A2 410
A2 410
A3 500
A3 500
A3 501
A3 510
A3 510
A3 511
A3 511
Need to find the formula which highlight high difference 2nd column as
A1 781
A1 800
A3 501
A3 510
Please help
Hi!
I am looking for some help with developing a formula. I coordinate a group of volunteers doing once a week service. I keep a schedule of 3 columns, date, the men working, and the ladies working. The schedule is multiple years long. The facility we work in has laid down a new rule that you have to come in at least twice in the past year to be considered current on your status. I have been trying to develop a formula that will reference the schedule sheet and tell me if each volunteer is current on their status, based first on the date (based on today), and next based on if they have met the required two times of working within that year. Can you help? I have tried vlookup, countifs, countif, as well as a long combination of ifs, ands, and other things, all of this to no avail.
I have a COUNTIFS formula to calculate the number of concurrent license usages (in this months data)like this =COUNTIFS(F$2:F$2468,"="&F2). In another column (N) I have the application name that used the license. If I sort my sheet on the application then the start time Col F could I expand the formula to count the concurrent usage for each application (I might have 10 different applications and the usage might vary in a particular month from 1 row to 1000 (or more).
Thanks in hope.
Gary
I just realised the formula got truncated when I pasted it in. This is my current formula =COUNTIFS(F$2:F$3111,"="&F2.
add this to the end of the formula ,G$2:G$3111,">="&F2)
Hi There
i got 3 number in one cell which mean that i'm using Alt + Enter to add the number. My question is how do i sum the total of that 3 number in empty?
Dear Sir,
i am facing problem from couple of days
my problem.... how to set duplication formula on numbering column such as i don't want that someone entry the same number in the same column incase anyone try to enter the same number so the excel warning to them
i am waiting for your kind response ...Thanks
I need to count number of returning users. I have one column for names and one column for dates. I wanna count if user x visited the site more than 1 time on different dates. Is there a formula for this?
Thanks
Try this....
=SUM(COUNTIFS('Dept'!$H:$H,">0",'Dept'!$E:$E,B169,'Dept'!$D:$D,{"Day Care","Inpatient"}))
sir, i need an equation for select and copy the last active column from group of column in excel to another column.
Good Morning everyone,
I wonder if someone can help. I am trying to count a word within the next 90 days.
Two tabs, one is called Reporting, where the info is being pulled, the 2nd tab is where the formula will go.
At the moment, I have a formula of
=countifs(reporting!$B:$B,"*Business Fulfilment Leeds*",Reporting!$F:$F,"<"&TODAY()+90)
Although it does seem to count, I know its not producing the correct figures.
would it be easier if I put in todays date in one cell?
So, Coloumn B is where Business FL is located and in column F is future dates.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I have refernce names Units, Version and mode defined on my spreadsheet.
and I wnat to run countifs to get two peices of information the count of how many version 100's per unit
then a count of legacy's per unit for two different charts. suning the same spreadsheet
I have useed a countifs statement in my spreadsheet to get a count of (units,"*",version,100) good output
(units,"A",version,100) good output
(units,"B",version,100) good output
(units,"C",version,100) good output
I tried to use another countifs in my spreadsheet to get (units,"*",mode,"Legacy")
(units,"*",mode,"Legacy") outputs !value
(units,"A",mode,"Legacy") outputs !value
(units,"B",mode,"Legacy") outputs !value
(units,"C",mode,"Legacy") outputs !value
But i keep getting !Value for the second set of Countifs.
is there a limit on the cirtera and howm any CountIfs per workbook?
Looking for a formula to do each separate entry below
count of odd numbers below 29 inclusive in row
count of even numbers below 30 inclusive in row
count of odd numbers above 31 inclusive in row
count of even numbers above 32 inclusive in row
I have two lists . If LIST B IS ONLY APPLE FOR LIST A ID'S THE COUNT SHOULD BE 1. IF LIST B HAS OTHER THAN APPLE or APPLE FOR LIST A ID'S THAT SHOULD NOT BE COUNTED. PLEASE HELP
List A List B COUNt OF ONLY APPLE FOR LIST A ID's ARE : 4
111 APPLE
111 APPLE
111 APPLE
111 APPLE
112 APPLE
112 ORANGE
112 GRAPE
113 GRAPE
113 ORANGE
114 APPLE
114 APPLE
114 APPLE
115 APPLE
115 APPLE
116 APPLE
117 ORANGE
117 APPLE
Hi,
I wonder if anyone could help me.
I want to create a formula which creates an =SUM based on the values of specific cells where a preceding cell contains a specific value.
For example, I only want the value of D8 counting if D7 contains 1a.
I'm unsure if there is a COUNTIF formula which would assist with this or if it is an impossibility?
Thank you in advance.
Please help. I have to figure out how many visits each specific patient had per year. So I have a column labeled service dates ranging from 1/1/2017 to 9/30/2019 and then I have a patient name column.
I need to know based of each patient how many visits were in 2017, 2018 and 2019
Svetlana!! thank you so much.
I'm trying to count a range of cells in a single column such that I am only counting when "200*" appears in an odd row. My formula consistently returns zero and I'm not sure how/where I've gone wrong:
=COUNTIFS(E5:E22, MOD(ROW(),2) = 0,E5:E22, "200*")
Is there a way to count matching text between two cells?
Example:
A1= red, green, blue, purple
A2= red, blue
Matching count= 2
Nevermind, I figured it out.