You can pass "<>" (including the quotes) as the parameter for criteria. This basically says, as long as its not empty/blank, count it. I believe this is what you want.

=COUNTIF(A1:A10, "<>") 

Otherwise you can use CountA as Scott suggests

Answer from SwDevMan81 on Stack Overflow
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Google Support
support.google.com › docs › thread › 203666768 › countif-for-partial-similar-text
Countif for partial/similar text - Google Docs Editors Community
February 25, 2023 - Skip to main content · Google Docs Editors Help · Sign in · Google Help · Help Center · Community · Google Docs Editors · Terms of Service · Submit feedback · Send feedback on
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How to count cells with any text in them.

Counta should do the trick

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August 2, 2022
Using countif to determine a specific text result
You should use =COUNTIF(B37:B39, "*Avenger*Iron Man Red*") in order to get a match for the "Avenger Iron Man Red" since that exact phrase isn't part of those three test lines. More on reddit.com
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June 13, 2024
wildcard - Google Spreadsheet, Count IF contains a string - Stack Overflow
I have a column like this: What devices will you be using? iPad Kindle & iPad No Tablet iPad iPad & Windows How do I count the amount of people that said iPad? This formula does work for More on stackoverflow.com
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Google Sheets formula for "if contains" - Web Applications Stack Exchange
I'm trying to figure out how to identify IF a list of items in one cell containing a value or string. EXAMPLE Cell A1 contains sites, sheets, docs, slides. I want cell B1 to display a 1 'if' cell A1 More on webapps.stackexchange.com
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SimpleSheets
simplesheets.co › blog › how-to-count-cells-with-text-in-google-sheets
How to Count Cells with Text in Google Sheets: COUNTIF Guide
... COUNTA counts all non-blank cells in the specified range. It includes both text and numbers but doesn't count blank cells. If we use =COUNTA(A1:A5), the result will be 4 (excluding the blank cell).
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Google Support
support.google.com › docs › answer › 3093480
COUNTIF - Google Docs Editors Help
If range contains text to check against, criterion must be a string. criterion can contain wildcards including ? to match any single character or * to match zero or more contiguous characters. To match an actual question mark or asterisk, prefix the character with the tilde (~) character (i.e. ...
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Excel Insider
excelinsider.com › home › our blog › google sheets functions › how to count cells that contain partial text in google sheets
How to Count Cells That Contain Partial Text in Google Sheets - Excel Insider
June 26, 2025 - Use * before and after your keyword in the criteria to match any part of the cell content. Use =COUNTIF(range, “*” & cell & “*”) to dynamically count cells containing the keyword from another cell. It updates automatically if the keyword ...
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Ben Collins
benlcollins.com › home › google sheets countif function
Google Sheets COUNTIF Function
March 18, 2022 - Example: cell has a text string. Can you return tile once delivered. Any specific way to return product? I just want the count to be 1 for the word “return” ... =IF(DashBoard!F2=””,””,”F = ‘” &DashBoard!F2 & “‘”) Hello, I need to count in the query function cells, which contain ...
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3Pie Analytics
3pieanalytics.com › excel-and-google-sheets-formulas-and-example › count-if-cells-contain-a-specific-text-in-excel-or-google-sheets
count if cells contain a specific text in Excel and Google Sheets
💡 In this example, it’s used to find all cells that include the text "apple". This search is not case-sensitive, so "apple" is considered the same as "Apple" or "APPLE". Other useful "COUNT FUNCTIONS: TEXT BASED CRITERIA" formulas in Excel and Google Sheets
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Layer
golayer.io › home › countif & countifs in google sheets: formula & examples
COUNTIF & COUNTIFS in Google Sheets: Formula & Examples | Layer Blog
July 17, 2024 - You now know how to use COUNTIF and COUNTIFS to count cells containing numeric and Boolean values, as well as text. You also know how to write criteria to find numeric values greater than a specific number, numeric values within a range of values, exact matches for numeric and text values, partial matches for text using wildcards, and non-blank cells. To learn more about the related function SUMIF, check out our guide on SUMIF & SUMIFS in Google Sheets: Formula & Examples.
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Softr
softr.io › home › blog › 100 google sheets formulas that actually work: a cheat sheet
100 Google Sheets formulas: The complete list
July 23, 2026 - Start here if you're not sure where to look. COUNTIF (Math): Counts how many cells in a range satisfy a single condition, whether that's an exact match, a text string, or a comparison.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/googlesheets › using countif to determine a specific text result
r/googlesheets on Reddit: Using countif to determine a specific text result
June 13, 2024 -

Im stuck at one point. I'm trying to use countif formula to determine how many times a word of a string of words appear but sometimes there are two entries in a single cell and I have separated them by a slash. The countif formula doesn't seem to capture it. I'll show an example attached to this.

Avenger Iron Man comes two times and Avenger Iron Man Red comes two times but somehow the countif doesn't capture the word after the slash.

(for your information this is just a basic example. My actual spreadsheet is massive and has a lot of entries separated by slash. 99 percent of the time I can filter by using a unique word. But when similar words come then it just fails). Any help would be appreciated.

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Excel University
excel-university.com › home › blog › how to count cells that contain specific text
How to Count Cells That Contain Specific Text - Excel University
November 22, 2022 - Looking for a specific value? Here are the different ways to count cells that contain specific text in Excel.
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Rows
rows.com › blog › post › countif-formula-in-google-sheets
How to Use the COUNTIF Google Sheets Function in 2025
August 19, 2024 - The COUNTIF function in Google Sheets is useful for counting cells that meet a specific criterion. It returns a conditional count across a range. ... If the range contains text to check against, the criterion must be a string. Criterion can ...
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3Pie Analytics
3pieanalytics.com › excel-and-google-sheets-formulas-and-example › count-if-cells-start-with-specific-text-in-excel-or-google-sheets
count if cells start with specific text in Excel and Google Sheets
Check below for a detailed explanation with pictures and how to use formulas in Excel and Google Sheets. How to count if cells start with specific text in Excel?
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Ablebits
ablebits.com › ablebits blog › excel › countif › excel: count cells containing specific text (exact and partial match)
Excel: count cells containing specific text (exact and partial match)
March 14, 2023 - Hi! The COUNTIF function cannot handle numbers as text. So I recommend searching for and summing partial matches. Here is an example of a formula: ... I have set up a Google Form linked to a sheet to register visitors to the school where I work.
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Statology
statology.org › home › google sheets: how to countif not equal to text
Google Sheets: How to COUNTIF Not Equal to Text
October 7, 2022 - Suppose we have the following dataset ... the number of cells not equal to several different text, you can instead use the COUNTIFS function....
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Google
developers.google.com › google workspace › google sheets › google sheets api overview
Google Sheets API Overview | Google for Developers
July 22, 2026 - It's a particular integer containing numbers that reference a sheet and it can be derived from the spreadsheet's URL. Sheet IDs are stable, even if the sheet name changes. For an example, see Spreadsheet ID. ... An individual field of text or data within a sheet. Cells are arranged in rows and columns, and can be grouped as a range of cells.
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Sheetsformulas
sheetsformulas.com › excel-and-google-sheets-formulas-and-example › count-if-cells-contain-a-specific-text-in-excel-or-google-sheets
SheetsFormulas.com - count if cells contain a specific text in Excel and Google Sheets
💡 In this example, it’s used to find all cells that include the text "apple". This search is not case-sensitive, so "apple" is considered the same as "Apple" or "APPLE". Other useful "COUNT FUNCTIONS: TEXT BASED CRITERIA" formulas in Excel and Google Sheets