• Home
• LTS Help Desk
• Workshops
• Permission to Use

Microsoft Excel 2008

Functions: Countif and Sumif

Countif and Sumif are two functions which are helpful and very easy to use. Countif counts the number of items that meet a certain criteria. Sumif adds all items that meet a certain criteria.

• Countif
• Sumif

Countif 

The Countif function counts the number of items that meet a certain criteria. This criteria can be a number, expression (e.g., >5) or a word. This is useful when determining the number of entries within a certain range (e.g., test scores), or the number of entries that match a certain value (e.g., class rank of "junior" or "senior"). 

1. Open the desired worksheet

2. Select the cell where you want the result of the function to appear

3. From the Insert menu, select Function...
   The Formula Builder appears.
   

4. In the Search for a function text box, type Countif
   OR
   Scroll to the Statistical section

5. Double click COUNTIF
   The Arguments section appears on the Formula Builder.
   
   

6. In the range text box, type the range of cells
   OR
   Within your worksheet, select the range of cells to analyze
   NOTE: These are the cells which will be analyzed to see if they meet the criteria you select. 

7. In the criteria text box, type the appropriate criteria, such as the numerical range, expression (e.g., >2), or text value
   EXAMPLE: To count the number of students with a class rank of "senior," type senior

8. Press [return]
   The formula appears in the Formula Bar and the result of the function appears in the cell you selected.
   EXAMPLE: The formula should look something like =COUNTIF(C2:C11,"senior") with C2:C11 being the range, and "senior" the criteria.

Sumif

The Sumif function adds all items that meet a certain criteria. For example, you could add all the scores of students with a class rank of "senior."

1. Open the desired worksheet

2. Select the cell where you want the result of the function to appear

3. From the Insert menu, select Function...
   The Formula Builder appears.
   

4. In the Search for a function text box, type Sumif
   OR
   Scroll to the Math and Trigonometry section

5. Double click SUMIF
   The Arguments section appears on the Formula Builder.
   

6. In the range text box, type the range of cells to analyze
   OR
   Within your worksheet, select the range of cells to analyze
   NOTE: These are the cells which will be analyzed to see if they meet the criteria you select. 

7. In the criteria text box, type the appropriate criteria, such as the number, expression (e.g., >2), or text value
   EXAMPLE: If you would like to add the test scores of the students with a class rank of "senior," type senior

8. In the sum_range text box, type the range of cells
   NOTE: These are the cells which will be summed if the criteria has been met. If left blank, the cells specified in the range will be added.
   OR
   Within your worksheet, select the range of cells to analyze

9. Press [return]
   The formula appears in the Formula Bar and the result of the function appears in the cell you selected.
   EXAMPLE: The formula should look something like =SUMIF(C2:C11,"senior") with C2:C11 being the range and "senior" being the criteria.