AREAS

The AREA function returns the number of areas in a reference.

Area is an individual cell or a range of adjacent cells.

Syntax

AREAS(reference)

Argument	Description	Permitted values
reference	Reference to a cell or range of cells that can refer to multiple areas	Any range of cells, multiple ranges separated by commas

Reference to a single range

=AREAS(A1:C3)

Result: 1, since the range A1:C3 is a single area.

Multiple non-contiguous ranges

=AREAS((A1:C3, E1:E3))

Result: 2, since two separate areas (A1:C3 and E1:E3) are specified.

Using a reference to separate cells separated by commas

=AREAS((A1, C1, E1))

Result: 3, since three separate cells are counted as three areas.

A continuous range is considered a single area: =AREAS(A1:B10) = 1 .
Separate cells and ranges are considered different areas.
The function analyzes the structure of the reference, not the contents of the cells.