Excel COUNTA Function to count non-empty cells

 What does Excel COUNTA Function do?

Excel COUNTA Function is used to count non-empty cells in the specified range, regardless whether it is text, space, date or number.

Unlike COUNT Function, which only counts “number”. Read the below article for explanation of COUNT function.

Excel worksheet COUNT function

Why do you need Excel COUNTA Function?

Normally, it is used to count non-empty cells, but it is more commonly used to determine the last row in the column. For example, assume that you know column A contains no empty cells, =COUNTA(A:A) returns how many items are there and it happens to be the last row of data.

You can read the below article of an application of COUNTA function in returning dynamic range.

Excel graph change data range dynamically

If you found some cells look blank but they are counted using COUNTA Function, read the below post.

Excel VBA clear cell contents with ClearContents Method

Syntax of Excel COUNTA Function

=COUNTA(value1, value2, value3...)

where value can be a range contains multiple cells

Example of Excel COUNTA Function

excel_function_count

Example Formula Result Explanation
1 =COUNTA(A1:A10) 7 There are 7 non-empty cells
2 =COUNTA(A1:A10,”a”,5) 9 Count in example 1 plus two from 2 other parameters (a and 5)

Outbound References

http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/excel-help/counta-function-HP010062493.aspx

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