In Excel, there are two frequently used functions COUNT and COUNTA. Both of the functions work in the same way, but there’s one major difference in that you need to know to use them in a better way.
- COUNT: This function count cells where you have the number as a value in the cell. For example, if you have 5 cells in the range A1:A10 with numeric values, COUNT will return 5 in the result.
- COUNTA: This function count cells where you have values, which means cells that are not empty or blank. For Example, if you have 7 cells in the range A1:A10 with values, it will return 7 in the result.
Example to Understand the Difference (COUNT Vs. COUNTA)
In the following example, we have a list of values in column A where we have different kinds of values including numbers, text, symbols, and blank values.
Now when you use the COUNT function it returns 3 in the result as you have only three values out of 9 which are numbers.
But when you use the COUNTA function for the same range it returns 9 in the result as we have 9 cells with the value in the range.
Which Function is Better Between These Two
Both functions are useful and easy to use, but, in the real-world scenario, COUNTA makes more sense as it can help you to count cells with values which more frequent situation than counting the cells with the number. But this doesn’t make the COUNT function less useful, people who do data analysis use the COUNT function a lot.