Counting text, but not formulas

[erica6670]

It seems like a simple task, but it's a Monday and I can't seem to figure it out...

All I want to do is add up the # of cells with text in them and leave out the blank cells. The problem is when I use COUNT or COUNTA it's counting the cells with formulas in it too. Ideas?

THANKS!!!

[NBVC]

Try:

=COUNTA(E1:E4)-COUNTBLANK(E1:E4)

or

=COUNTIF(E1:E4,"?*")

adjust range to suit.

[erica6670]

Awesome, thanks. I used the second. What does "?*" do in the formula?

[NBVC]

Both the ? and * are wildcard characters...

The ? means any single character
The * means any number of characters

If you use the ? only, it looks for cells with 1 character only.

If you use the * only, it looks for cells with anything in them (including formula blanks).

Using both, says at least one "visible" character...

Hope that helps


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