Excel.Tips.Net Welcome toExcel.Tips.Net

Helpful Links

Tips.Net Home
ExcelTips Home
Ask an Excel Question
Make a Comment

Tips.Net Store

ExcelTips FAQ
ExcelTips Premium

Learn Access Now

Beauty Tips
Car Tips
Cleaning Tips
College Tips
Cooking Tips
Excel2007 Tips
ExcelTips
Family Tips
Gardening Tips
Health Tips
Home Tips
Money Tips
Organizing Tips
Pest Tips
Pet Tips
Wedding Tips
Word2007 Tips
WordTips

Advertise on the
ExcelTips Site

Newest Tips

Assigning a Macro to a Keyboard Combination

Creating Scenarios

Using Message Boxes

Understanding Phantom Macros

Picking a Group of Cells

Running Out of Memory

Hiding Rows Based on a Cell Value

 

Phantom Counts

Summary: Perplexed by the ways in which the COUNT and COUNTA functions seem to count? This tip explains the differences and the "gottchas" you need to watch for. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

There are two closely related worksheet functions in Excel: COUNT and COUNTA. The COUNT function counts all cells that contain numbers, while the COUNTA function counts all cells that are not empty. Thus, if you use COUNTA, you would get "phantom counts" if a cell contained a space; this problem would not occur if you used the COUNT function.

What can cause "phantom counts" when using COUNT is if some cells contain the value zero. This is considered a number by Excel, so it includes that cell in the count. The confusion often pops up if you have the worksheet configured to not display zero values. Thus, the cell could appear to be empty, but really contain a zero which affects COUNT.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2574) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Don't Go in Debt for Christmas! Tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses for Christmas? Want to enjoy the season rather than dread the aftermath? Learn how you can avoid the financial traps that spring up every Christmas.
 
Check out Top Fifteen Tips for Financing Christmas today!