Related article: Excel 2007 COUNTA Function
A very useful, yet little known function is Excel's COUNTA function. What it does is count up the number of cells containing data – either numbers or labels in a selected range.
The function is written as follows:
=COUNTA(argument)
The argument for this function is the range of cells to be totaled.
COUNTA also ignores empty cells in the selected range. If data is later added to an empty cell in the range, the count total is automatically updated.
To Use COUNTA();
- Click on the cell where you want the results of the function to be located.
- Type “=counta(” in that cell.
- Select the range of cells you wish to count with the mouse pointer.
- Type the closing bracket ")" after the cell range.
- Press the ENTER key on the keyboard.
Uses for CountA
Uses for CountA include using it to find out quickly and easily the number of members on an organization's membership list or the number of parts in an inventory list. If the membership or inventory changes, the function will automatically update the total to reflect the new total.
