Select the cells you want to work with and head to the Home tab. In the Editing section of the ribbon, click “Find & Select” and choose “Find”.

When the Find and Replace window opens, click “Options”.

Known formatting: If you know the precise formatting you used for the colored cells, for example, a specific green fill, click “Format.” Then use the Font, Border, and Fill tabs in the Find Format window to select the color format and click “OK”.

Unknown formatting: If you’re not sure of the exact color or used multiple format forms like a fill color, border, and font color, you can take a different route. Click the arrow next to the Format button and select “Choose Format From Cell”.

When your cursor transforms to an eyedropper, move it to one of the cells you want to count and click. This will put the formatting for that cell into the preview.

Using either of the above two ways to enter the format you’re looking for, you should next check out your preview. If it looks correct, click “Find All” at the bottom of the window.

When the window expands to display your results, you’ll see the count on the bottom left as “X Cell(s) Found.” And there’s your count!

You can also review the exact cells in the bottom portion of the window, just above the cell count.