It will likely have been solved by now, but I ran accross this and figured to give my input

=COUNTIF(a2:a51;"*iPad*")

The important thing is that separating parameters in google docs is using a ; and not a ,

Answer from Perry on Stack Overflow
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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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Countif for partial/similar text - Google Docs Editors Community
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February 25, 2023
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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January 26, 2023
is there a formula to check if a cell contains certain text? - Google Docs Editors Community
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September 14, 2024
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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
To count cells that literally contain a question mark, use =COUNTIF(A2:A10,"*~?*"). Without the tilde, the question mark is read as "any single character" and your count balloons. Wildcard matching is not case-sensitive. "*apple*" and "*APPLE*" return the same number. When wildcards are not expressive enough, Google Sheets gives you an option Excel does not have: regular expressions, through REGEXMATCH.
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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
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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 - Use =COUNTIF(range, “*”) to count only cells containing text. This excludes blank cells and numbers but includes all text entries, even partial words or phrases. COUNTIF alone can’t handle multiple exclusions, but using helper columns ...
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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 - Then press enter. ... This counts how many cells in B1:B20 contain a number greater than 100. The result is 3, which is showing slightly above the formula. While the formula for COUNTIF is =COUNTIF(range, "criterion")
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Coupler.io Blog
blog.coupler.io › home › when to use countif or countifs in google sheets: real-life formula examples
COUNTIF vs. COUNTIFS in Google Sheets | Coupler.io Blog
August 5, 2025 - Alternatively, you can reference a cell that contains a criterion (in this case, don’t use quotation marks). data_range#2, "criterion#2",... – Additional ranges and criteria to check. The number of rows and columns in additional ranges must be equal to those in the data_range#1. =COUNTIFS('All orders'!G:G,">=10",'All orders'!F:F,"Mark Oliver",'All orders'!I:I,"<50") ... Count the values that meet all the following criteria: 1. Values in the G column of the All orders sheet (data_range#1) that are greater or equal to 10 (criterion#1).
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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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Statology
statology.org › home › how to use countif contains in google sheets
How to Use COUNTIF Contains in Google Sheets
October 7, 2022 - This formula counts the number of rows where the cell in the range A2:A11 contains “string1” and the cell in the range B2:B11 contains “string2.” · Note: The * operator is a wildcard character in Google Sheets.
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Ben Collins
benlcollins.com › home › google sheets countif function
Google Sheets COUNTIF Function
March 18, 2022 - It’s part of the Math family of functions in Google Sheets. ... This formula will count all cells that are equal to the word Apartment. Exact matches with numeric values do not require quotes: ... This counts all cells with a value of 500. Logical operators are used to create conditional tests: ... This counts all cells with values greater than 500. COUNTIF is case insensitive, so these two formulas will produce the same result: ... The criterion for COUNTIF function can be contained ...
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Coefficient
coefficient.io › home
How to Use The COUNTIF Google Sheets Function - Coefficient
September 2, 2025 - The tilde (~) allows you to search for an star or question mark instead of using them as wildcards. For example, =COUNTIF(E2:E23,”No~*”) counts all the cells containing No*, and =COUNTIF(E2:E23,”No~?”) counts all cells with No?. Let’s set up our sample dataset in Google Sheets so we can show off some examples of COUNTIF.
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Usemage
usemage.com › google-sheets-how-to › how-to-count-cells-containing-specific-text-in-google-sheets
How To Count Cells Containing Specific Text In Google Sheets - Google Sheets Help | Mage - AI for Google Sheets
For example, =COUNTIFS(A1:A10, "*apple*", B1:B10, ">10") will count cells in the range A1:A10 that contain 'apple' and have a corresponding value greater than 10 in the range B1:B10. Google Sheets supports regular expressions, which can be used with the COUNTIF function for more advanced text matching.
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Ablebits
ablebits.com › ablebits blog › google sheets tips › google sheets functions › google spreadsheet countif function with formula examples
Google Spreadsheet COUNTIF function with formula examples
Since it's locked from editing, here are the examples of formulas for your task using COUNTIFS: In B2: =COUNTIFS(Sheet1!$B$2:$B$13,B$1,Sheet1!$A$2:$A$13,">=01/01/2024",Sheet1!$A$2:$A$13,"<=01/31/2024") In C2: =COUNTIFS(Sheet1!$B$2:$B$13,C$1,Sheet1!$A$2:$A$13,">=01/01/2024",Sheet1!$A$2:$A$13,"<=01/31/2024") In B3: =COUNTIFS(Sheet1!$B$2:$B$13,B$1,Sheet1!$A$2:$A$13,">=02/01/2024",Sheet1!$A$2:$A$13,"<=02/28/2024") Adjust them for your other cells changing dates and cell references for countries accordingly. ... I have a column of data (amounting to a total of 148 values- including blank cells) all of which contained fractions, for ex."1/4" and whole numbers, for ex.
Published: August 16, 2021
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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 - 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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Layer
golayer.io › home › countif & countifs in google sheets: formula & examples
COUNTIF & COUNTIFS in Google Sheets: Formula & Examples | Layer Blog
July 17, 2024 - When sharing a Google Sheets spreadsheet, Google typically shares the entire document. Here’s how to share only one tab instead. ... Second, let’s find the number of sales made by ‘Southteam’. Instead of using an exact match, you can use wildcards to search for part of the text. ... 3. For the criterion, the function should match cells containing ‘south’, followed by any number of characters. COUNTIF & COUNTIFS in Google Sheets: Formula & Examples – Add COUNTIF Criterion
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/googlesheets › how to countif letter/word is in cell
How to COUNTIF letter/word is in cell : r/googlesheets
January 26, 2023 - 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. ... something like =COUNTIF(B3,"Banana") should work.
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Google Support
support.google.com › docs › thread › 296695635 › is-there-a-formula-to-check-if-a-cell-contains-certain-text
is there a formula to check if a cell contains certain text? - Google Docs Editors Community
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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
=COUNTIF(A:A,"*"&C6&"*") // criteria as a cell reference ... Wildcard: The * character allows for any number (including zero) of other characters to take its place. 💡 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". How to count if cells contain specific text in Google Sheets?
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Business Insider
businessinsider.com › business insider › how to use the countif function in google sheets to determine a number of items within a specific condition
How to use the COUNTIF function in Google Sheets to determine a number of items within a specific condition
August 23, 2022 - But you could use "*red" to find cells that end with the word red or "red*" for cells that begin with red. The COUNTIF function can return the number of items that correspond to a particular date.