We may want to count numbers that are greater than 15 digits. Note that Excel will return an erroneous result if we try to compute long digits with COUNTIF. This article provides a step by step guide on how to count long numbers without COUNTIF.
Formula
SUMPRODUCT(--(A:A=A1)
or
{SUM(--(A:A=A1))}
Explanation
SUMPRODUCT- This can be replaced by the SUM function. Its work is to do the computation.
Double negation (–) – it coerces the TRUE/FALSE result in the SUMPRODUCT computation to 1/0.
A:A– refers to the named range.eg, B10:B70
A1– specifies each cell where count should be computed.
NOTE: When we try to count long numbers that are greater than 16 in excel, we will get wrong results. This is because excel will add a trail of zeros, making it hard to use them in any computation.
Example 1
Let us look at how excel erroneously handles digits that are greater than 16 when we use COUNTIF function.
Figure 1: Showing 18 digits number in its standard form.
Example 2
If we have a list of numbers, and want to count the number of digits in each number, we proceed as follows:
Step 1: Have the data
Figure 2: Showing the data table
Step 2: Enter the SUMPRODUCT formula
Figure 3: Showing the SUMPRODUCT formula in action
Step 3: Press Enter to get the count value as shown below:
Figure 4: Showing the count values
Notes
If we are entering extra-long numbers for non-maths operations, we can start the digits with a text. This will let us enter very many digits, without limitations.
Using COUNTIF to count numbers with digits that are more than 15 will lead to unreliable results.
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