Countm Distinct formula for multiple dropdown column

FuryFerrell

When I use the countm(distinct()) formula, I get an answer of 4 instead of 3. This is a drop-down list with the option of having multiple values per cell. There are no extra spaces in my cells. The formula seems to know that there are 3 different options in the blue highlighted cell but is unable to see that the "K-S-212" in each cell is the same. How can I go about fixing this?

This question is similar to the one asked here: https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/73516/count-distinct-formula-in-multiple-dropdown-column

Paul Newcome

You will need to create a helper multi-select dropdown column that has a JOIN formula (delimiter is CHAR(10) for line break) joining all cells together. This will filter out duplicates. From there you would use the COUNTM on the cell in the helper column.

FuryFerrell

Hi Paul

I am still getting 4 instead of 3.

Paul Newcome

Can you provide screenshots of your setup?