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
🌐
SimpleSheets
simplesheets.co › blog › how-to-count-cells-with-text-in-google-sheets
How to Count Cells with Text in Google Sheets: COUNTIF Guide
Rule: =COUNTIF(range, "*") answers "how many cells hold text", not "how many cells hold real words". A postcode stored as text still counts. Google documents the full criteria syntax in the official COUNTIF function reference.
Discussions

How to count cells with any text in them.

Counta should do the trick

More on reddit.com
🌐 r/googlesheets
6
1
August 2, 2022
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
🌐 stackoverflow.com
Countif for partial/similar text - Google Docs Editors Community
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 More on support.google.com
🌐 support.google.com
February 25, 2023
Perform a calculation if text is bold?
Help and support with your functions, formulas, formatting, and Apps Scripts macros in Google Sheets. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/googlesheets
4
1
March 1, 2020
People also ask

Does Coefficient work with both Google Sheets and Excel?
Yes, Coefficient supports both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. You can install Coefficient from the Google Workspace Marketplace for Sheets or from Microsoft AppSource for Excel.
🌐
coefficient.io
coefficient.io › home
How to Use The COUNTIF Google Sheets Function - Coefficient
What is Coefficient's AI Sheets Assistant?
AI Sheets Assistant is Coefficient's AI-powered feature that helps you build formulas, create charts, generate pivot tables, and build entire dashboards using natural language commands in Google Sheets. Unlike generic AI assistants, it's context-aware and creates native Google Sheets objects that are live and editable. It understands your spreadsheet's layout and data structure to provide accurate, actionable results.
🌐
coefficient.io
coefficient.io › home
How to Use The COUNTIF Google Sheets Function - Coefficient
How does Coefficient's automated refresh work?
Coefficient allows you to schedule automatic data refreshes at intervals you choose: hourly (1, 2, 4, or 8 hours), daily, weekly, or monthly. Once scheduled, your spreadsheet data automatically updates from your connected systems without any manual work. You can also trigger manual refreshes anytime with an on-sheet button or through the sidebar.
🌐
coefficient.io
coefficient.io › home
How to Use The COUNTIF Google Sheets Function - Coefficient
🌐
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
The criterion specifies which cells with the text you want to count. The COUNTIF Google Sheets formula counts cells with specific text by inputting the specified texts as the criterion.
Published: September 9, 2025
🌐
How-To Geek
howtogeek.com › home › web › how to count cells with text in google sheets
How to Count Cells With Text in Google Sheets
June 23, 2022 - and COUNTIF functions, you can count cells that contain any text, specific text, or partially matching text. This is a great way to find the non-blank cells in your spreadsheets, and we'll show you how to use these functions. Related: How to Count Characters in a Cell in Google Sheets
Find elsewhere
🌐
Google Support
support.google.com › docs › answer › 3093620
COUNT - Google Docs Editors Help
Although COUNT is specified as ... Google Sheets supports an arbitrary number of arguments for this function. COUNT counts all numeric values in a dataset, including those which appear more than once. To count unique values, use COUNTUNIQUE. COUNT counts only numeric values; text values are ...
🌐
Got It AI
got-it.ai › solutions › excel-chat › excel-tutorial › countif › how-to-use-a-countif-function-in-google-spreadsheets
Learn How to Use COUNTIF Function in Google Sheets - Excelchat
February 13, 2023 - Keep your cursor in a cell where you want to show your calculations, like cell E1 · Enter “=” sign and type COUNTIF function in this active cell E1, an auto-suggested box pops up · Select the range of cells which you want to text again ...
🌐
Coefficient
coefficient.io › home
How to Use The COUNTIF Google Sheets Function - Coefficient
September 2, 2025 - Get started by pulling live data into pre-built Sheets dashboards. ... Apply the syntax: =COUNTIF(range, criteria) where range is your cell range and criteria is your condition ... Leverage wildcards like * (matches multiple characters) and ?
🌐
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 - Yes, but you’ll need to reference each sheet individually: =COUNTIF(Sheet1!A1:A100, “Apple”) + COUNTIF(Sheet2!A1:A100, “Apple”) ... Quotation marks are missing or curly instead of straight. The range is invalid (check for merged cells). Extra spaces in cell content (use TRIM() to clean them). Counting specific text in Google Sheets can be incredibly helpful when analyzing large datasets.
🌐
Excel Insider
excelinsider.com › home › our blog › google sheets functions › google sheets countif to check if a cell contains text
Google Sheets COUNTIF to Check If a Cell Contains Text - Excel Insider
August 1, 2025 - COUNTIF alone can’t handle multiple ... effectively. The asterisk is a wildcard that matches any sequence of characters. In =COUNTIF(range, “*”), it tells Google Sheets to count all non-blank text entries....
🌐
Modernschoolbus
modernschoolbus.com › home › how to count cells with specific text in google sheets
How to Count Cells with Specific Text in Google Sheets
Here is an example of using the COUNTIF function to count the number of times the text “Matt” appears in a list of names: ... What this formula does is it will search in my range of A2:A13 for the text “Matt” and return the number of ...
🌐
The Bricks
thebricks.com › home › resources › how to count cells with text in google sheets
How to Count Cells with Text in Google Sheets - Bricks
April 22, 2025 - In Google Sheets, these functions are like little commands that tell the spreadsheet what to do. There are several functions for counting, and each serves a different purpose. Here are the primary counting functions you’ll encounter: COUNT: This function counts the number of cells containing numeric data. COUNTA: A bit more versatile, COUNTA counts all cells that aren’t empty, including those with text.
🌐
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
🌐
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:
🌐
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
🌐
Google Sheets
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 - In this guide, we will show you how to use two different formulas to count all cells with text in Google Sheets: COUNTA and SUMPRODUCT.
🌐
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 - COUNTIFS (Math): Counts cells that ... COUNTIF beyond a single criterion. UPPER (Text): Converts every letter in a text string to uppercase, leaving numbers and punctuation untouched. GOOGLETRANSLATE (Google): Translates a text string from one language to another directly inside a cell, powered by Google Translate. TODAY (Date): Pulls the current date from the system clock and displays it in the sheet's default ...
🌐
Ablebits
ablebits.com › ablebits blog › google sheets tips › google sheets functions › how to do a character count in google sheets
Count words and characters in Google Sheets: LEN function
March 14, 2023 - Instead, I will count the number of spaces between the words and then simply add 1. Have a look: ... LEN(A2) counts the number of all chars in the cell. LEN(SUBSTITUTE((A2)," ","")) removes all spaces from the text string and counts remaining chars.