Excel formula: Count cells that are blank

Generic formula

=COUNTBLANK(range)

Explanation

To count the number of cells that are blank, you can use the COUNTBLANK function. In the example shown, the formula in cell E5 is:

=COUNTBLANK(B5:B14)

Because there are two empty cells in the range, COUNTBLANK returns 2

How this formula works

The COUNTBLANK function counts the number of cells in the range that don't contain any value and returns this number as the result. Cells that contain text, numbers, dates, errors, etc. are not counted. COUNTBLANK is fully automatic. Just pass in a range, and COUNTBLANK will return a result. In the example shown, the formula in E4 is:

=COUNTBLANK(B5:B14) // returns 2

Because there are two empty cells in the range, COUNTBLANK returns 2.

Count not blank

To count cells that are not blank, you can use the COUNTA function. The formula in E6 is:

=COUNTA(B5:B14) // returns 8

COUNTA returns 8, since eight cells in the range contain a value. For more details and options, see this example.

Author

Dave Bruns

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Related functions

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