Table of Contents

Count Characters

Use the LEN function to count characters in Excel. Use LEN and SUBSTITUTE to count specific characters in Excel.

1. The LEN function in Excel counts the number of characters in a cell.

Count Characters in a Cell

Explanation: the LEN function counts 2 numbers 1 space and 6 letters.

2. Use SUM and LEN to count the number of characters in a range of cells.

SUM and LEN in Excel

Note: as you can imagine this formula can get quite long.

3. The array formula below counts the number of characters in a range of cells.

Count Characters in a Range of Cells

Note: finish an array formula by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER. Excel adds the curly braces {}. In Excel 365 or Excel 2021 finish by simply pressing Enter. You won’t see curly braces. The array constant {9;4;6;5} is used as an argument for the SUM function giving a result of 24.

4. Use LEN and SUBSTITUTE to count how many times a specific character (in this example the character a) occurs in a cell.

Count Specific Character in a Cell

Explanation: the SUBSTITUTE function replaces the character a (second argument) with an empty string (third argument). LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1″a”””)) equals 8 (the length of the string without the character a). If we subtract this number from 9 (total number of characters in cell A1) we get the number of occurrences of the character a in cell A1.

5. The array formula below counts how many times a specific character (in this example the character a) occurs in a range of cells.

Count Specific Character in a Range of Cells

Explanation: the array constant {1;1;2;1} is used as an argument for the SUM function giving a result of 5. The SUBSTITUTE function is case-sensitive. The A in Alaska is not counted.

6. The array formula below counts both lower and upper case occurrences of a specific character (in this example the character a).

Case Insensitive Character Count

Explanation: The LOWER function converts all letters to lowercase first.

Leave A Comment

Excel meets AI – Boost your productivity like never before!

At Formulas HQ, we’ve harnessed the brilliance of AI to turbocharge your Spreadsheet mastery. Say goodbye to the days of grappling with complex formulas, VBA code, and scripts. We’re here to make your work smarter, not harder.

Related Articles

The Latest on Formulas HQ Blog

An AI generated image of charts and spreadsheets presumably displaying the abilities of excel generators

Unlock Spreadsheet Superpowers: Top 5 AI Tools Transforming Excel & Sheets

In today’s busy world, being good at managing and understanding data is really important. Excel and Google Sheets are key tools for many people in different jobs, but sometimes, working [...]

BMI calculator in Excel

BMI calculator in Excel

Create a BMI calculator in Excel and find out if you are a healthy weight. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on weight and height that applies to adult men and women.

Conflicting Conditional Formatting Rules in Excel

Conflicting Conditional Formatting Rules in Excel

Sometimes multiple conditional formatting rules in Excel conflict. A higher rule always wins. This example illustrates two different results.

List of Holidays in Excel

List of Holidays in Excel

This example teaches you how to get the date of a holiday for any year (2024 2025 etc). If you are in a hurry simply download the Excel file.

How to use the Excel FILTER function

Use the magic FILTER function in Excel 365/2021 to extract records that meet certain criteria. The FILTER function is quite versatile.

Password Protect an Excel Macro

Just like you can password protect workbooks and worksheets you can password protect a macro in Excel from being viewed (and executed).

Featured image for counting blank and nonblank cells in Excel, showing a spreadsheet with highlighted sections for blank and nonblank cells and formulas like COUNTBLANK, COUNTA, and COUNTIFS.

Count Blank/Nonblank Cells in Excel

This example shows you how to count blank and nonblank cells in Excel.

Analysis ToolPak in Excel

The Analysis ToolPak is an Excel add-in program that provides data analysis tools for financial statistical and engineering data analysis.

Excel Quick Analysis tool highlighting totals, charts, and formatting options

Quick Analysis Tool in Excel

Use the Quick Analysis tool in Excel to quickly analyze your data. Calculate totals quickly insert tables, apply conditional formatting, and more.

Excel IRR calculation example for financial analysis

How to use the Excel IRR function

Use the IRR function in Excel to calculate a project's internal rate of return. The internal rate of return is the discount rate that makes the net present value equal to zero.

Update a Pivot Table in Excel

Any changes you make to the data set are not automatically picked up by a pivot table in Excel. Refresh the pivot table or change the data source to update the pivot table with the applied changes.

Consolidate Data in Excel

You can use Excel's Consolidate feature to consolidate your worksheets (located in one workbook or multiple workbooks) into one worksheet.

How to Sort by Date in Excel

This guide walks you through the steps to sort by date in Excel. It starts with how to convert text-formatted dates to actual date values followed by basic sorting methods and advanced techniques like sorting dates by month and sorting birthdays.