The Excel COUNTBLANK function is a Statistical formula that counts the empty cells in a given range. It can be especially useful in data analysis and organization tasks, where you need to find out any errors or fields that require attention. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to use the COUNTBLANK function and also go over some tips and error handling methods.


Supported versions

  • All Excel versions

Excel COUNTBLANK Function Syntax

COUNTBLANK(range)


Arguments

range

The range where the blank cells are to be counted.



Examples

Static Values

As the name suggests, the function counts the blank cells in a given range. It only requires a range argument, and below is a basic use case demonstrating how it works. For the range argument, you can enter a single cell, two-dimensional range, or named range.

=COUNTBLANK(C5:D5)

Formula Results

The function only counts cells that contain formulas that return an empty string ("" value). Zeroes, error values, as well as any other strings and numbers will be ignored by the function.

=COUNTBLANK(C14:D14)

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Summary and Tips

  • The COUNTBLANK function only counts the cells without any content, and formulas that return an empty string ("").
  • The COUNTBLANK doesn't accept more than one range or reference like the COUNT function. You can only enter a single range argument. If you need to aggregate the result from multiple ranges, use the COUNT function instead.