How to count the number of commas/dashes separated values in a cell in Excel?

For example you have a cell containing many commas in Excel, how could you easily count the total number of all commas in this cell? This article provides two methods to solve it quickly!

• Count the number of commas/dashes in a cell with formula
• Count the number of commas/dashes in a cell with Kutools for Excel’s formula

Count the number of commas/dashes in a cell with formula

This method will introduce a formula to quickly count the total number of all commas or dashes in one cell in Excel. Please do as follows:

Select the cell you will place the counting result, type the formula =LEN(A2)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2,",","")) (A2 is the cell where you will count the commas) into it, and then drag this cell’s AutoFill Handle to the range as you need. See screenshot:

Note: For counting the number of dashes, please replace the commas with the dashes in the formulas as =LEN(A2)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"-","")).

Count the number of commas/dashes in a cell with Kutools for Excel’s formula

Sometimes, you may be not able to remember the formula exactly. Here we recommend the Count times a word appears formula of Kutools for Excel, which can help you quickly count a character or a word in a cell easily. Please do as follows:

1. Select a blank cell you will place the counting result into, and click Kutools > Formula Helper > Statistic > Count the number of a word.

2. In the opening Formula Helper dialog box, please specify the cell where you will count the commas/dashes in the Text box, type the , or - into the Word box, and click the OK button. See screenshot:

And then the total number of commas/dashes in the specified cell has been counted and returned into the selected cell. If necessary, please drag this cell’s AutoFill Handle to the range as you need. See screenshot:

Note: This Count times a word appears formula is also able to count the specified character or word in a range. See below screenshot:

Demo: Count the number of commas/dashes in a cell/range using Kutools for Excel

Related articles:

Count specific characters (comma/semicolon/question marks) in cell/range in Excel

Remove all punctuation marks (comma, quotation, apostrophe) from cells

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...

More details of Kutools for Excel... Free Download...

---

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!

More details of Office Tab... Free Download...

---

All Kutools add-ins. One installer

Kutools for Office suite bundles add-ins for Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint plus Office Tab Pro, which is ideal for teams working across Office apps.

• All-in-one suite — Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint add-ins + Office Tab Pro
• One installer, one license — set up in minutes (MSI-ready)
• Works better together — streamlined productivity across Office apps
• 30-day full-featured trial — no registration, no credit card
• Best value — save vs buying individual add-in

More details of Kutools for Office... Free Download...