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I am trying to count the number of occurrences of a set of numbers (representing survey answer numbers) in a range of numbers:
I've tried both =COUNTIF(G6:U6,"=1") and =COUNTIF(G6:U6,"=1").
The range is format number and contains numbers 1 through 4.
The cell just shows the formula and when I try to "Evaluate Formula" using the Formula Auditing tool, I can't step through it - it displays the message "the cell currently being evaluated contains a constant.
I played with it some more and it appears I had typed a blank before one of the numbers making it a text item. This I found out when I removed the formula I got one of those warning arrows to the right of the cell. "Number stored as text" - I chose "convert to number" and the formula now works.
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Answer accepted by question author
I suspect that the cell containing the formula is formatted as Text. As a consequence, Excel treats that formula as a constant (literal) text string.
Format the cell as General.
Then press F2 and Enter.
Life saver!!! I've been beating my head of the desk today trying to figure out why this was happening.