COUNTIF Not Equal To in Excel (<>)

In Excel, <> means “not equal to”.

Not equal to a word

=COUNTIF(C2:C100,"<>Paid")

Not case-sensitive: Paid, PAID and paid are all excluded. Blank cells are counted.

Not equal to a number

=COUNTIF(B2:B100,"<>0")

Not equal to another cell

=COUNTIF(C2:C100,"<>"&E1)

Not blank

=COUNTIF(C2:C100,"<>")

Or simply COUNTA.

Not equal and not blank

=COUNTIFS(C2:C100,"<>Paid",C2:C100,"<>")

Exclude several values

=COUNTIFS(C2:C100,"<>Paid",C2:C100,"<>Cancelled")

Each extra condition narrows the count further. See COUNTIFS.

Doesn’t contain a word

=COUNTIF(C2:C100,"<>*refund*")

The * wildcards mean “anything before or after”.

Related: COUNTIF greater than · COUNTIF basics