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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SimpleSheets
simplesheets.co › blog › how-to-count-cells-with-text-in-google-sheets
How to Count Cells with Text in Google Sheets: COUNTIF Guide
The formula excludes the numbers and blanks. Rule: =COUNTIF(range, "*") answers "how many cells hold text", not "how many cells hold real words". A postcode stored as text still counts.
Discussions

google sheets - How to count number of non-blank cells (cells that contain text)? - Stack Overflow
I want to count the cells that contain anything within a range. Any cell that contain text, or numbers or something else should do a plus one in my result-cell. I found this function, countif(ran... More on stackoverflow.com
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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
How to COUNTIF letter/word is in cell
Posting your data can make it easier for others to help you, but it looks like your submission doesn't include any. If this is the case and data would help, you can read how to include it in the submission guide . You can also use this tool created by a Reddit community member to create a blank Google Sheets document that isn't connected to your account. Thank you. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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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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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 allows you to count the number of cells in a range that meets a specified criterion. ... Open your Google Sheet and input the formula into a cell. Replacing with your text criterion.
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Spreadsheet Point
spreadsheetpoint.com › home › google sheets tips › google sheets count cells with text | full guide
Google Sheets Count Cells with Text | Full Guide for 2026
... Select the range you want to count. Add a comma and type the word we want to count in quotation marks (“Mark” in the example above). ... This will return the number of cells with the specific text in them.
Published: September 9, 2025
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Excel Insider
excelinsider.com › home › our blog › google sheets functions › how to count cells with specific text in google sheets
How to Count Cells with Specific Text in Google Sheets - Excel Insider
September 25, 2025 - Count Cells with Specific Text in Google Sheets [Make a Copy] COUNTIF only evaluates text-based conditions. Empty cells won’t be counted unless the condition for them uses (“”) to count blanks.
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Coefficient
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How to Use The COUNTIF Google Sheets Function - Coefficient
September 2, 2025 - Now that we have our dataset let’s dive into some step-by-step examples of COUNTIF in Google Sheets. As discussed, you can use a COUNTIF formula to count the number of cells within a data range that contain a specific text or numeric value.
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How-To Geek
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How to Count Cells With Text in Google Sheets
June 23, 2022 - To view the number of cells that contain only your specified text, use Sheets' COUNTIF function as follows.
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Modernschoolbus
modernschoolbus.com › home › how to count cells with specific text in google sheets
How to Count Cells with Specific Text in Google Sheets
In this tutorial, I will show you how to count cells that contain specific text in Google Sheets. ... The easiest way to count the number of cells that contain a specific text is by using the COUNTIF function.
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Excel Insider
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How to Count Cells That Contain Partial Text in Google Sheets - Excel Insider
June 26, 2025 - Count Cells That Contain Partial Text in Google Sheets [Make a Copy] Use =COUNTIF(range, “*word*”) to count cells containing a specific word anywhere in the text.
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Count Cells Containing Text & Filter In Google Sheets - Simplify Sheets
March 15, 2023 - You will notice in the linked data that the city and state are in the same cell so we will need to write a formula to count cells containing the state name and not an exact match. ... By adding stars around our text it will now count cells ...
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sheetsformarketers.com › home › blog › how to count cells with text in google sheets
How To Count Cells with Text in Google Sheets - Sheets for Marketers
October 31, 2023 - We’ll first explain how to count cells with text using the COUNTA function. Select an empty cell to place the new formula. Type the string “=COUNTA(“ into the formula bar to start the COUNTA formula.
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YouTube
youtube.com › spreadsheet point
How Count Cells With Specific Text in Google Sheets - YouTube
To count cells with text, use the COUNTA or COUNTIF functions. I’ll show how to use each with screenshots and step-by-step instructions during the video. For...
Published: February 13, 2024
Views: 1K
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Statology
statology.org › home › how to count cells with text in google sheets (3 examples)
How to Count Cells with Text in Google Sheets (3 Examples)
January 21, 2022 - We can use the following formula to count the number of cells with the text “A” or “B” in column A: ... We can see that there are 5 rows with the text “A” or “B” in column A. The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in Google Sheets:
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Sheetaki
sheetaki.com › home › how to count cells with text in google sheets
How to Count Cells with Text in Google Sheets [Step-By-Step]
September 23, 2021 - You can also use the COUNTIF function in Google Sheets to count cells with specific text. You can even modify it to count cells that do not contain a specific text. he formula will look like this =COUNTIF(range,”<>criterion”).
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Spreadsheet Point
spreadsheetpoint.com › home › formula posts › how to use the countif google sheets function [easy guide]
How to Use the COUNTIF Google Sheets Function [Easy Guide]
January 4, 2024 - For this to be accomplished, we’ll need to count the number of times the text “American” appears in column B, which has the “Nationality” header. We can use COUNTIF to count cells with a specific text in Google Sheets which, in this ...
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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.