COUNTIF Error when looking for logical signs

COUNTIF Error when looking for logical signs

COUNTIF and SUMIF are very useful features in Excel. We have come across a problem though which results in a COUNTIF error when looking for logical signs.

One of the features of the COUNTIF and SUMIF functions is to include a logical test e.g. COUNTIF a cell is < 0. 

However the function experiences a problem when you try and count where the criteria is not the logical function less than ( e.g <0 ) but for the text “<” (our spreadsheet testing tool presents the maps using < to represent a copy of the previous cell). As shown in the picture, Excel has incorrectly counted the logical signs.

The Excel function seems to ignore the text and does the test instead even though there is no number after the logical. This seems to apply to all the logical functions i.e. <, >, >=, and <=.

Not sure of a solution but for a quick fix you can replace all the ‘<‘s with another character (make sure you set your FIND/ REPLACE to values and not formula) and count those.