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How to determine frequency of a character/text/string in an Excel range?

Author: Sun Last Modified: 2024-10-23

If there are some data in an Excel range, you want to determine the frequency of a number, text, or string, except manually count them one by one, how can you solve it? Here in this tutorial, I introduce some different methods to help you quickly and easily determine the frequency of string in Excel.

Determine frequency of a character/text/string with formula

Determine frequency of a character with COUNCHAR featuregood idea3

Determine frequency of a word with Count times a word appears featuregood idea3

Determine frequency of a character/text/string with formula

Here are some formulas working for different situations.

Count frequency of a number in a range

Note: This formula can work correctly while each cell contains only one character in the range.

Select a cell and type this formula =SUM(IF(D1:D7=E1,1,0)) (D1:D7 is the range you work, E1 contains the character you want to count), press Shift + Ctrl + Enter key. See screenshot:

use a formula to Count frequency of a number
press Shift + Ctrl + Enter keys to get the result

Count frequency of an alphabetical character in a range

Note: This formula can work correctly while each cell contains only one character in the range.

You also can use this formula =SUM(IF(D1:D7="k",1,0)) to count the frequency of a certain alphabetical character, (D1:D7 is the range, k is the character you want to count), press Shift + Ctrl + Enter keys. See screenshot:
apply a formula to Count frequency of an alphabetical character

Count frequency of a string in a range

Supposing you want to count the times of string which contains kte, select a blank cell, and type this formula =COUNTIF(C13:C18,"*kte*"), (C13:C18 is the range you work, kte is the string you want to count), press Enter key. See screenshot:

apply a formula to Count frequency of a string
press Enter key to get the result

Determine frequency of a character with COUNCHAR feature

If you want to count the times of a character in a single cell, you can apply Kutools for Excel’s COUNTCHAR feature.

Kutools for Excel offers over 300 advanced features to streamline complex tasks, boosting creativity and efficiency. Itegarate with AI capabilities, Kutools automates tasks with precision, making data management effortless. Detailed information of Kutools for Excel...         Free trial...

After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as below:（Free Download Kutools for Excel Now!)

1. Select a blank cell to output the result, click Kutools > Kutools Functions > Statistical & Math > COUNTCHAR. See screenshot:
click COUNTCHAR feature of kutools

2. In the Functions Arguments dialog, select the cell you want to use into Within_text box, and type the character around with double quotation marks into Find_text box, and you can see the result shown in below. See screenshot:
set cell references in the dialog box

3. Click OK, then if you need, drag fill handle over the cells to count the character in each cell.
drag fill handle over the cells to count the character in each cell

Determine frequency of a word with Count times a word appears feature

If you want to count the times a word appears in a single cell or a range, the Count times a word appears feature of Kutools for Excel can do you a nice favor.

After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as below:（Free Download Kutools for Excel Now!)

1. Select a cell and click Kutools > Formulas Helper > Statistical > Count the number of a word. See screenshot:
click Count the number of a word feature of kutools

2. Then in the Formula Helper dialog, select the cell or cell range you want to use in Text box, type the word you want to count into Word box. See screenshot:
specify the cell references in the dialog box

3. Click Ok.
click ok to get the result

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