COUNTIF and COUNTIFS in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This table shows names and their scores in a test.

Cell	Value
A1	Name
B1	Score
A2	Alice
B2	85
A3	Bob
B3	90
A4	Alice
B4	78
A5	David
B5	90
A6	Bob
B6	70

Formula Trace

=COUNTIF(A2:A6, "Alice") + COUNTIFS(B2:B6, ">=80", A2:A6, "Bob")

Step 1: COUNTIF(A2:A6, "Alice")

Step 2: COUNTIFS(B2:B6, ">=80", A2:A6, "Bob")

Step 3: 2 + 1

Cell Reference Map

    A      B
1 |Name  |Score |
2 |Alice |  85  |
3 |Bob   |  90  |
4 |Alice |  78  |
5 |David |  90  |
6 |Bob   |  70  |

The formula uses the name list in A2:A6 and the scores in B2:B6 to count matching conditions.

Result

    A      B      C
1 |Name  |Score |Result|
2 |Alice |  85  |      |
3 |Bob   |  90  |      |
4 |Alice |  78  |      |
5 |David |  90  |      |
6 |Bob   |  70  |  3   |

The formula result 3 is shown in cell C6 (or any chosen cell), representing the total count matching the conditions.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

How many times does 'Alice' appear in the list?

A 1

B 3

C 2

D 4

Key Result

COUNTIF counts cells matching one condition; COUNTIFS counts cells matching multiple conditions together.