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

"CJ" wrote in message
om...
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