Let's say you want to count only rows that contain numbers and dates in a column that contains a mix of different data types. There are several ways to count cells that contain numbers.What do you want to do?

Count cells that contain numbers in a contiguous row or column

  1. Select a cell below or to the right of the numbers that you want to count.
  2. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click the arrow next to AutoSum button image, click Count Numbers, and then press ENTER.

Count cells that contain numbers that are not in a contiguous row or column

To do this task, use the COUNT function.

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

How to copy an example

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic.

    Note Do not select the row or column headers.

    selecting an example from helpSelecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.
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A
Data
Sales
12/8/2007
19
22.44
Formula Description (Result)
=COUNT(A2:A6) Counts number of cells that contain numbers (3) in the list. A date is a number.
=COUNT(A2:A3,A6) Counts number of cells that contain numbers (2), of the top two and bottom cells in the list. A date is a number.

Function details