counting instances of words in a worksheet cell

[CJ]

I would like to be able to count the instances of "apple" in the
following example, where each line is the value in one cell:

column 1

x apple
apple x
x x
x apple x

to get the answer = 4 instances of apple.

How can I do this in excel?

any help greatly appreciated

CJ

 

[JulieD]

Hi CJ

getting the answer 4 from the given example would be difficult, however, if
you'ld settle for 3 then use the following formula

=COUNTIF(A1:A4,"*apple*")

Cheers
JulieD

 

[Guest]

The word apple is always on a cell by itself?
=COUNTIF(your_range,"apple")

If it isn't, then try:
=COUNTIF(your_range,"*"&"apple"&"*")

TJ