Administration and Executive AssistantTier 430 minintermediate

UNIQUE for a Genuine Distinct Count

Count how many different people or items are really in a list, not how many rows it has.

What you will learn

• Explain why COUNTA overstates a distinct count when rows repeat
• Wrap UNIQUE in ROWS(), or use SUMPRODUCT(1/COUNTIF(...)), to get a genuine distinct count from one cell
• Recognise that this engine evaluates UNIQUE() but does not spill it across cells

Excel skills

UNIQUE, ROWS, SUMPRODUCT · Dynamic Arrays

The task

Thirty orders came in this month, but some customers ordered more than once. Before I report "thirty new customers" to the board, I need the real number of distinct people who bought something.

You work in a real spreadsheet in your browser, and your answer is checked against hidden traps the moment you submit.

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