Depends what you mean by 'spreadsheet'.
If you mean two worksheets in same workbook, then
=COUNTIF(Sheet2!A:A,Sheet1!A1)
If you mean sheets in different workbooks, then
=COUNTIF('[test book.xls]Sheet1'!$A:$A,A1)
and both book need to be open
best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
www.stfx.ca/people/bliengme
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"klafert" wrote in message
...
I have 2 spreadsheets. One has entries like: (Spreadsheet 2)

A B C D

5456 Mary 1 4
5456 Mary 2 3
2312 Mary 3 4
2145 Joe 2 2
2345 Joe 2 4
2345 Joe 3 4


The other one has entries like: (Spreadsheet 1)

A B

5456 Mary
2312 Mary
2145 Joe
2345 Joe

I want to put a formula in Spreadsheet 1 to count how many times the
values
in Column A is in Spreadsheet 2.