Counting the Number of Blank Cells

Summary: If you need to count the number of blank cells in a range, the function to use is COUNTBLANK. This tip discusses the function, along with a "gottcha" that you should be aware of. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

One of the worksheet functions provided by Excel allows you to quickly and easily count the number of blank cells in a range. The format of the function is as follows:

= COUNTBLANK(range)

The function returns an integer value representing the number of blank cells in the range. You should be careful, however. If you have the display of zero values suppressed for the worksheet, a cell can appear blank when it is not really blank. COUNTBLANK returns blank cells, not counting those that would have a zero displayed if you chose to display such values. (How you suppress the display of zero values in a worksheet is discussed in other ExcelTips.)

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2157) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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