Count cell only only

MR8

New Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
24
Hi guys,

I did a search and wasn't able to find anything about a formula to count the record only once.

Is there a Count Formula to count the information once.

E.g

Col A
Coke
Coke
Rum
Brandy
Rum
Vodka
Vodka

So at the moment when I do a count formula it returns the value as 7, when I want it to return 5. As I want coke and Vodka to be counted only once.

Thanks
 

Excel Facts

Why does 9 mean SUM in SUBTOTAL?
It is because Sum is the 9th alphabetically in Average, Count, CountA, Max, Min, Product, StDev.S, StDev.P, Sum, VAR.S, VAR.P.
wouldnt your answer be 4 for the example your have posted?

<title>Excel Jeanie HTML</title><table style="padding-right: 2pt; padding-left: 2pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Arial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <colgroup> <col style="font-weight: bold; width: 30px;"> <col style="width: 64px;"> <col style="width: 64px;"></colgroup> <tbody> <tr style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;"> <td> </td> <td>A</td> <td>B</td></tr> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;">1</td> <td>coke</td> <td style="text-align: right;">4</td></tr> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;">2</td> <td>coke</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;">3</td> <td>rum</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;">4</td> <td>brandy</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;">5</td> <td>rum</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;">6</td> <td>vodka</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="height: 17px;"> <td style="font-size: 8pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202); text-align: center;">7</td> <td>vodka</td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table>
<table style="border-style: groove; border-color: rgb(0, 255, 0); font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; background-color: rgb(255, 252, 249);"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Spreadsheet Formulas</td></tr> <tr> <td> <table style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr style="font-size: 10pt; background-color: rgb(202, 202, 202);"> <td>Cell</td> <td>Formula</td></tr> <tr> <td>B1</td> <td>{=SUM(1/COUNTIF(A1:A7,A1:A7))}</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td>Formula Array:
Produce enclosing
{ } by entering
formula with CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER!
</td></tr></tbody></table>
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Hi guys,

I did a search and wasn't able to find anything about a formula to count the record only once.

Is there a Count Formula to count the information once.

E.g

Col A
Coke
Coke
Rum
Brandy
Rum
Vodka
Vodka

So at the moment when I do a count formula it returns the value as 7, when I want it to return 5. As I want coke and Vodka to be counted only once.

Thanks

It's called unique or distinct items count.

Control+shift+enter, not just enter:

=SUM(IF(FREQUENCY(IF(A2:A8<>"",MATCH("~"&A2:A8,A2:A8&"",0)),ROW(A2:A8)-ROW(A2)+1),1))
 
Upvote 0
Aladin,

Re your solution I also use the same for extracting a unique/distinct count. Would that solution be a more expensive solution than c_m's?

Also are the any advantages of your solution compared to c_m's?
 
Upvote 0
one advantage of Aladin's solution that I could think of is: if any cells in the range are blank, Aladin's suggestion would still work while mine wont.
 
Upvote 0
This modification will protect c_m's formula

=SUMPRODUCT(1/COUNTIF(A1:A7,A1:A7&""))

but it counts empty cells as an occurance, you may want to use

=SUMPRODUCT(1/COUNTIF(A1:A7,A1:A7&""))-SIGN(COUNTIF(A1:A7,""))

addendem: both formulas think that the text entry "10" is the same as the number 10.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Thanks for your helps guys... can someone explain what the ctrl+shift+enter dose?
 
Upvote 0

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