Skip to main content

How to count if cell does not contain text in Excel?

Author Kelly Last modified

For example, you have a long list of data in Excel, do you know how to count the number of cells which don't contain a specific text string? In this article, I will introduce a formula to count if cells does not contain specific text string in Excel.

Count if cell does not contain certain text string with formula

We can apply the COUNTIF function to figure out the number of cells which don't contain a specific text string in a specific range in Excel.

The basic form of the formula is shown as: =COUNTIF(Range,"<>*txt*")

For example, we want to count cells not containing the text of "count" in the Range A1:A40. In a blank cell enter the formula =COUNTIF(A1:A40,"<>*count*") and then press the Enter key.
a screenshot of using formula to count if cell does not contain certain text string

Then you will get the number of cells which don't contain the specific text of "count" in the specific Range A1:A40.

Count and select/highlight if cells don't contain text of another column in Excel

Kutools for Excel’s Select Same & Different Cells utility can help you quickly compare two columns, and then select or highlight the same/different cells between two columns, or select/highlight the entire rows based on the same/different cells between two columns.

Get a 30-day full-featured free trial now!

a screenshot of using Kutools for Excel to select count uniques between two lists

Kutools for Excel - Supercharge Excel with over 300 essential tools. Enjoy permanently free AI features! Get It Now

Count if cells don't contain certain text with Kutools for Excel

If you have Kutools for Excel installed, its Select Specific Cells utility can help you select all kinds of cells/rows/columns easily, such as cells containing certain text string, cells greater/less than a certain value, etc. Here I will guide you to count cells if not containing certain text string with this utility.

Kutools for Excel - Supercharge Excel with over 300 essential tools. Enjoy permanently free AI features! Get It Now

1. Click the Kutools > Select > Select Special Cells.

2. In the opening Select Specific Cells dialog box, please configure the setting as follows:

  • (1) Specify the range you will count cells without certain text string into the Select Cells in this range box;
  • (2) Specify one selection type based on your needs, such as Cell or Entire row.
  • (3) Click the Specific type box, and select Does not contain from the drop down list;
  • (4) Type the text string you will count by into besides box.

a screenshot of setting the condition in the Select Specific Cells dialog box

3. Click the Ok button. Then another dialog box comes out and shows you how many cells have been selected.

In our case, the “19” indicates the cells which don’t contain the certain text string of “Count”. See below screenshot:
a screenshot of qualified cells being selected

Kutools for Excel - Supercharge Excel with over 300 essential tools. Enjoy permanently free AI features! Get It Now

Demo: count if cell does not contain specific text in Excel

 

Kutools for Excel: Over 300 handy tools at your fingertips! Enjoy permanently free AI features! Download Now!

Related Articles

Best Office Productivity Tools

🤖 Kutools AI Aide: Revolutionize data analysis based on: Intelligent Execution   |  Generate Code  |  Create Custom Formulas  |  Analyze Data and Generate Charts  |  Invoke Kutools Functions…
Popular Features: Find, Highlight or Identify Duplicates   |  Delete Blank Rows   |  Combine Columns or Cells without Losing Data   |   Round without Formula ...
Super Lookup: Multiple Criteria VLookup  |   Multiple Value VLookup  |   VLookup Across Multiple Sheets   |   Fuzzy Lookup ....
Advanced Drop-down List: Quickly Create Drop Down List   |  Dependent Drop Down List   |  Multi-select Drop Down List ....
Column Manager: Add a Specific Number of Columns  |  Move Columns  |  Toggle Visibility Status of Hidden Columns  |  Compare Ranges & Columns ...
Featured Features: Grid Focus   |  Design View   |   Big Formula Bar   |  Workbook & Sheet Manager   |  Resource Library (Auto Text)   |  Date Picker   |  Combine Worksheets   |  Encrypt/Decrypt Cells   |  Send Emails by List   |  Super Filter   |   Special Filter (filter bold/italic/strikethrough...) ...
Top 15 Toolsets:  12 Text Tools (Add Text, Remove Characters, ...)   |   50+ Chart Types (Gantt Chart, ...)   |   40+ Practical Formulas (Calculate age based on birthday, ...)   |   19 Insertion Tools (Insert QR Code, Insert Picture from Path, ...)   |   12 Conversion Tools (Numbers to Words, Currency Conversion, ...)   |   7 Merge & Split Tools (Advanced Combine Rows, Split Cells, ...)   |   ... and more
Use Kutools in your preferred language – supports English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, and 40+ others!

Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time.  Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...

Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier

  • Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
  • Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
  • Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!