Which MS Excel function counts only those cells in a range that contain numbers?
- A.COUNTA
- B.COUNTBLANK
- C.COUNT
- D.SUM
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, COUNT. COUNT walks through the range and counts only the cells that hold a numeric value, which includes dates and times because Excel stores them as serial numbers. Text entries, logical values and empty cells are all ignored, so =COUNT(A1:A10) on a column of names returns zero.
Option A, COUNTA, counts every cell that is not empty, so text and numbers alike are included; the A stands for all, and this is the distractor the question is built around. Option B, COUNTBLANK, does the opposite and reports how many cells in the range are empty. Option D, SUM, does not count cells at all but adds the numbers it finds in them, so a column holding 5 and 5 gives a COUNT of 2 and a SUM of 10. COUNTIF, a fifth member of the family, counts only the cells that satisfy a stated condition.
Read the full article: MS Excel: Formulas, Functions and Shortcuts
Practice Questions
View allIn MS - Excel, what is the shortcut key you can press to Select the entire row?
- A.Ctrl + Shift + Space
- B.Ctrl + Home
- C.Ctrl + Space
- D.Shift + Space
Show answer
Pressing Shift together with the spacebar selects the whole row that holds the active cell, from column A right across to the last column of the grid.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following displays both the name of the application and the name of the spreadsheet in MS-Excel?
- A.Title bar
- B.Tool bar
- C.Task bar
- D.Menu bar
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The title bar is the strip along the very top of the Excel window, and it carries the name of the open workbook followed by the name of the program, for example Book1 - Excel.
Read the full explanation →The 'LEN' function in MS-Excel belongs to which of the following categories?
- A.Financial
- B.Logical
- C.Text
- D.Math & Trig
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LEN returns the number of characters in an entry, counting letters, digits, punctuation and spaces alike, so =LEN("Excel") gives 5.
Read the full explanation →Which out of the following is used as an electronic spread sheet?
- A.Microsoft Word
- B.Microsoft Power point
- C.Microsoft Excel
- D.Microsoft Access
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An electronic spreadsheet stores data in a grid of rows and columns and recalculates its formulas whenever a value changes, and Excel is the spreadsheet program of the Microsoft Office suite.
Read the full explanation →Which function key displays the Print Preview window in Microsoft Office?
- A.Alt + Ctrl + F2
- B.Alt + F2
- C.Shift + F2
- D.Ctrl + F2
Show answer
Ctrl together with F2 opens the print area of the Backstage view in Excel, Word and PowerPoint, where the page is shown exactly as it will be printed and the printer, copies, orientation and margins can be set.
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