COUNTIFS function
Returns the count of cells that meet criteria in multiple ranges.
COUNTIFS(Range1; Criterion1 [; Range2; Criterion2 [; ...]])
Range1 – required argument. It is a range of cells, a name of a named range or a label of a column or a row containing values for counting and finding the corresponding criterion.
Range1, Range2, ... and Criterion1, Criterion2, ... must have the same size, otherwise the function returns err:502 - Invalid argument.
Simple usage
=COUNTIFS(B2:B6;">=20")
Counts the amount of rows of the range B2:B6 with values greater than or equal to 20. Returns 3, because the fifth and the sixth rows do not meet the criterion.
=COUNTIFS(B2:B6;">=20";C2:C6;">70")
Counts the amount of rows that contain simultaneously values greater than 70 in the C2:C6 range and values greater than or equal to 20 in the B2:B6 range. Returns 2, because the second, the fifth and the sixth rows do not meet at least one criterion.
Using regular expressions and nested functions
=COUNTIFS(B2:B6;"[:alpha:]*")
Counts the amount of rows of the B2:B6 range that contain only alphabet symbols. Returns 1, because only sixth row meets the criterion.
=COUNTIFS(B2:B6;">"&MIN(B2:B6);B2:B6;"<"&MAX(B2:B6))
Counts the amount of rows of the B2:B6 range excluding rows with minimum and maximum values of this range. Returns 2, because the third, the fifth and the sixth rows do not meet at least one criterion.
=COUNTIFS(A2:A6;"pen.*";B2:B6;"<"&MAX(B2:B6))
Counts the amount of rows that correspond to all cells of the A2:A6 range starting with "pen" and to all cells of the B2:B6 range with exception of its maximum. Returns 1, because only second row meets all criteria.
Reference to a cell as a criterion
If you need to change a criterion easily, you may want to specify it in a separate cell and use a reference to this cell in the condition of the COUNTIFS function. For example, the above function can be rewritten as follows:
=COUNTIFS(A2:A6;E2&".*";B2:B6;"<"&MAX(B2:B6))
If E2 = pen, the function returns 1, because the link to the cell is substituted with its content and it works as a function above.