Count Cells that Contain Specific Text in Excel

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Author: | Edits: don

Simple formula to count the occurrence of any text value in a cell or range of cells in Excel.

You will learn:

  • How to count values that come at the start of a cell.
  • How to count values that come at the end of a cell.
  • How to count values that are in the middle of a cell.
  • How to count values that are located anywhere in a cell.

This simple tutorial combines the COUNTIF() function with wildcard characters.

Count Text Formula

=COUNTIF(A1:A5,"*red*")

red is the sample word to look for.

* asterisk is placed before and after the word and it means to match any character. You can place one of these before the text, one after the text, or one asterisk before and after the text.

Additional Resources

CountIf Function in Excel (microsoft resource)

Count Words in Cells in Excel (older resource) (microsoft resource)


Excel Function: COUNTIF()
Downloadable Files: Excel File

Question? Ask it in our Excel Forum


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Tutorial Details
Excel Function: COUNTIF()
Downloadable Files: Excel File
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50+ Hours of Video
200+ Excel Guides

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