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Conditional function

How to use COUNTIFS in Excel

Counts rows that match every condition.

Syntax

COUNTIFS(criteria_range1, criteria1, …)
criteria_range1First range to check
criteria1First condition

Example

Here’s COUNTIFS on a small table of orders. The highlighted cells are the ones the formula reads.

G2
fx
=COUNTIFS(B2:B9,"West",D2:D9,">4")
A
B
C
D
E
F
1
Order
Region
Rep
Units
Price
Revenue
2
1001
East
Maya
4
12
48
3
1002
West
Omar
2
30
60
4
1003
East
Lena
7
12
84
5
1004
North
Maya
1
45
45
6
1005
West
Lena
5
30
150
7
1006
East
Omar
3
18
54
8
1007
North
Lena
6
12
72
9
1008
West
Maya
8
18
144
2Result of =COUNTIFS(B2:B9,"West",D2:D9,">4")

Edit this formula live Change the ranges and watch the answer update. Free, no sign-up.

Common mistakes with COUNTIFS

Every condition must be true

COUNTIFS counts rows where all conditions match (AND). For “either/or”, add two COUNTIFs together.

Ranges must be the same size

B2:B9 with C2:C10 returns #VALUE!. Make every range cover the same rows.

What the error messages mean

Type these slips into Gridwise and this is the feedback you get:

Leaving off the closing bracket

=COUNTIFS(B2:B9,"West",D2:D9,">4"

Parentheses don’t match. You have 1 opening and 0 closing parentheses. Every ( needs a ).

Text without quotes

=COUNTIFS(B2:B9,West,D2:D9,">4")

Text needs quotes. West isn’t a function or a cell, so Excel can’t read it. If you mean the word, write "West" with quotes.

Questions

What does the COUNTIFS function do in Excel?

Counts rows that match every condition. The syntax is COUNTIFS(criteria_range1, criteria1, …).

Why is my COUNTIFS formula giving the wrong answer?

Every condition must be true: COUNTIFS counts rows where all conditions match (AND). For “either/or”, add two COUNTIFs together. Ranges must be the same size: B2:B9 with C2:C10 returns #VALUE!. Make every range cover the same rows.

Does COUNTIFS work in Google Sheets?

Most Excel functions, including the core ones on this page, work the same way in Google Sheets. A few newer functions arrived in Sheets later or behave slightly differently, so test it on your own data.

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