Counting characters at the beginning of a word using the COUNTIF & LEFT Functions in Excel

STEP 1 – Create a Dataset

Create a dataset. Here, B4:C15.

COUNTIF LEFT Text

STEP 2 – Enter the Text You Need to Count

In F6 (Search), enter B to count the cells have this letter at the beginning of the word.

STEP 3 – Apply a Formula

Use this formula in F7.

=COUNT(IF(LEFT(B5:B15,1)="B",1,""))

COUNTIF LEFT Text

Press Enter to see the result.

Final Output

The number of occurrences is displayed.

The LEFT function finds the text from the left side in B5:B15. The IF function determines the condition: counting the occurrence of B. Finally, the COUNT function counts cells based on the condition and returns a number. In the formula, 1 is used to determine that it will count cells that begin with one character.

Alternative Solutions to Count Specific Texts in Excel

1. Combine the SUMPRODUCT, LEFT & LEN Functions to Count a specific Text from the Left

Use this formula in C18.

=SUMPRODUCT(--(LEFT(B5:B15,LEN(C17))=C17))

Combine SUMPRODUCT, LEFT & LEN Functions to Count Particular Text at Start

Press Enter.

This is the output.

The LEN function computes the length of the text string in C17. The LEFT function searches for the text in the left string in B5:B15. The SUMPRODUCT function calculates the total number of characters.