How to Use COUNTUNIQUE Function in Google Sheets

The COUNTUNIQUE function is applicable to any kind of data, numerical or nominal. · It is a variation of the COUNT function that counts only ... HowtoUseCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioninGoogleSheets byMakoYoungFebruary11,2021 TheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioninGoogleSheetscountsthenumberofuniquevaluesinadataset. Itisespeciallyusefulwhenyouwanttosortthroughlargeamountsofdata. TableofContents TheAnatomyoftheCOUNTUNIQUEFunctionARealExampleofUsingtheCOUNTUNIQUEFunctionHowtoUseCOUNTUNIQUEFunctioninGoogleSheets TherulesfortheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioninGoogleSheetsare: TheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctionisapplicabletoanykindofdata,numericalornominal. ItisavariationoftheCOUNTfunctionthatcountsonlyuniquedata,regardlessofhowmanytimestheyarerepeatedinadataset. Considerthisexample. You’reafinancialadvisorofinsuranceandinvestmentplans.You’vehelpednumerousclientsthroughouttheyear,andyouwanttogivethemalittleChristmaspresent.Now,someofyourclientshaveonlyoneinvestmentplan,butsomeothershavemorethanone.Yourdatabaseisalsosortedaccordingtopolicynumbersratherthanclientnames.Howcanyoutellexactlyhowmanyclientsyouhave?  TheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioncanfindthatinformationforyou.Youmightbeabletomanuallycountthenumberofuniquevaluesinasmallerdatabase,butsometimes,thevaluesinyourdatabasecannumberoverthethousands.Inthosecases,manuallycountingforuniquevaluesleavesalotofroomforerror.TheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioncantellyouhowmanyuniquevaluesyouhavemoreaccuratelyandwithlesseffort.  It’seasytolearnandgetsthejobdone.✅ That’soneexamplewherelearningtheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioninGoogleSheetscanbevaluable,andtherearemanymore.Forinstance,Inalibrarycatalog,youcanuseittoknowhowmanytitlesyouhaveratherthanhowmanybooks.  Whateverthepurpose,theCOUNTUNIQUEfunctiongivesyouaccurateinformationforlesswork. Great!Let’sseehowit’susedinamoredetailedexample.We’llworkwithanactualdatabaseandfindalltheuniquevalues.ItwillalsohelpuscorrectlywriteourownCOUNTUNIQUEfunctionsinGoogleSheets.AsCOUNTUNIQUEisavariationoftheCOUNTfunction,we’llalsoillustratehowtheirresultscandiffer.     TheAnatomyoftheCOUNTUNIQUEFunction Sothesyntax(thewaywewrite)oftheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctionisasfollows: =COUNTUNIQUE(value1,[value2,…]) Let’sgothrougheachpartofthefunctionandunderstandwhateachtermmean: =theequalsignisalwayshowwestartanyfunctioninGoogleSheets. COUNTUNIQUE()isourCOUNTUNIQUEfunction.Itwillanalyzethedatawritteninthefunctionandreturnthenumberofuniquevaluesinfinds.  Valueisanydatayouwanttoconsiderforuniqueness.Thiscanbewrittenintothefunction,acell,arangeofcells,oracombinationofallthree.Atleastonevalueisrequiredtoperformthefunction.Allothervaluesareoptional.     ARealExampleofUsingtheCOUNTUNIQUEFunction Howcanyouapplythisinreallife?CheckoutthisexamplebelowtoseehowCOUNTUNIQUEisusedinGoogleSheets.    Let’sexpoundontheexamplefromabove.You’reafinancialadvisor,andtheimageaboveisasimplifiedversionofyourdatabase.Itshowsallthepoliciesyou’vesoldandtheirrespectiveclients.Christmasiscomingandyouwanttogiveeachclientalittlepresent.Howmanypresentsdoyouprepare? Youwouldn’twanttorefertothenumberofpolicies,assomeclientshavemorethanone,andwould,therefore,receivemorethanonepresent.You’llwanttorefertoyourCLIENTNAMEdatasetandusetheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctiontocountalltheuniqueclientnames.Thenyou’llknowhowmanyclientsyouhaveandhowmanypresentstoprepare. Asyoucanseeintheexample,theCOUNTUNIQUEfunctionreturnsanumberof9uniquevaluesfromtheCLIENTNAMEcolumn.TheCOUNTAfunction,ontheotherhand,whichreturnsthenumberofallvaluesregardlessofuniqueness,givesanumberof18.  Inthissituation,theCOUNTUNIQUEistherightfunctionforyourpurpose.  YoumaymakeacopyofthespreadsheetusingthelinkIhaveattachedbelow.  Makeacopyoftheexamplespreadsheet ThereisalsoanothervariationoftheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioncalledtheCOUNTUNIQUEIF.ThisfunctioncombinestheCOUNTUNIQUEandIFfunctionstoresultinthecountingofconditionalvalues.  Forexample,youwanttoknowhowmanypoliciesyou’vesoldhaveinsurancecoverageofmorethanorequalto$20,000.TheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioncountsthenumberofuniquevaluesinarange,filteredbyasetofcriteriaappliedtoadditionalranges.Ifyoucountitmanually,thereare9policieswithacoverageof$20,000ormore,whichisthesameresultastheCOUNTUNIQUEIFSbutwithoutthehassle.   IwillwriteamoreadvancedtutorialonhowyoucanusetheCOUNTUNIQUEIFSfunctionwithotherfunctionsinthecomingweeks.Besuretosubscribethroughtheformbelowtobenotified.  Nowlet’sbeginwritingourownCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioninGoogleSheets.     HowtoUseCOUNTUNIQUEFunctioninGoogleSheets Firstly,preparethedatayouwanttouse.TohelpillustratetheeffectoftheCOUNTUNIQUEfunction,itwouldhelpifsomedataarerepeated.Ifyoudon’thaveareadydatabasetouse,feelfreetomakeacopyofthisone.    Next,clickonanycellyouwanttouse.Anycellwilldo.Thisiswheretheresultwillappear.Typeintheequalsign‘=‘toopenthefunction.Followthatbythenameofthefunctionwhichis‘countunique‘(or‘COUNTUNIQUE‘,eitheronewillwork).   Theauto-suggestboxwillappearwiththenamesofthefunctionsthatstartwithCOUNTUNIQUE.Atthemoment,thereareonlytwo–COUNTUNIQUEandCOUNTUNIQUEIFS.We’llcoverthelatterinaseparatetutorial.Fornow,selectCOUNTUNIQUEbypressingtheTaborEnterkeysonyourkeyboard.AguidefromGoogleSheetswillappearthattellsyoumoreaboutthefunctionyou’reusing.Clickonthis^symbolontheupperrightoftheboxbesidethex,tominimizethebox.   Thenextstepistoputinthevalues.Thiscanbeanything.Youcanputasetofnumbers(asshownbelow),arangeofcells,orboth.Toendthefunction,typeinacloseparenthesis.   Now,hityourEnterkeyonyourkeyboard.Theresultshouldappearinthecellyouusedforthefunction.Forthisexample,thecountofuniquenumbervaluesis7.   Let’shaveanotherexample!Thistime,let’sfindthenumberofuniqueDatevalues.Selectarangeofcellstoinputthevalues.Thismethodofinputtingvalueismoreefficientandaccurate.Todothat,clickonthefirstcellintherangeanddragyourmousetothelastcell.YoucanalsojusttypeitinasB2:B11,B2isthefirstcell,andB11isthelastcell.   Toexecutethefunction,presstheEnterkeyonyourkeyboard.Inthisexample,thereareeightuniquevaluesintheDatesdataset.   Justrepeatsteps6and7ontheremainingtwodatasets.Youshouldhavethesameresultsbelow.     Andthat’stheendofthistutorial.YoucannowusetheCOUNTUNIQUEfunctioninGoogleSheetstofindthenumberofuniquevaluesinanydataset.CombineitwithotherGoogleSheetsfunctionsformorepowerfulandeffectiveformulasthatimproveefficiencyandaccuracyinyourwork.    GetemailsfromusaboutGoogleSheets. Ourgoalthisyearistocreatelotsofrich,bite-sizedtutorialsforGoogleSheetsuserslikeyou.Ifyoulikedthisone,you'lllovewhatweareworkingon!Readersreceive✨earlyaccess✨tonewcontent. Subscribe Tags:GoogleSheets 0Shares: Share 0 Tweet 0 Pinit 0 MakoYoung Hi!Myname'sMakoandI'maComputerSciencegraduateturnedprofessionalfreelancewriter.Istartedfreelancewritingasapart-timejobduringcollege,butI'vesincefalleninlovewithwritingandimmediatelymadeitafull-timejobaftergraduating.I'veusedGoogleSheetsforalmosteverythinginmypersonalandprofessionalcareer:keepingaccounts,tabulatingexpenses,managingteamassignments,justtonameafew. LeaveaReplyCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*CommentName* Email* Website Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. 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