COUNT OVER in Snowflake

This page is a quick reference checkpoint for COUNT OVER in Snowflake: behavior, syntax rules, edge cases, and a minimal example; plus the official vendor documentation.


Function Details

COUNT OVER returns the number of rows in the window frame.

When used as a window function, DISTINCT is prohibited in the OVER form; default frame with ORDER BY is RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW; explicit RANGE frames require a single input argument and COUNT(table.) is not supported.

Warning: Using DISTINCT inside the window-function form is prohibited.

If this behavior feels unintuitive, the tutorial below explains the underlying pattern step-by-step.

COUNT( [ DISTINCT ] <expr1> [ , <expr2> ... ] ) OVER ( [ PARTITION BY <expr3> ] [ ORDER BY <expr4> [ ASC | DESC ] [ <window_frame> ] ] )

SELECT region, amount, COUNT(amount) OVER (PARTITION BY region ORDER BY amount) AS count_over_region FROM sales;

What should you do next?

If you came here to confirm syntax, you’re done. If you came here to get better at window functions, choose your next step.

Understand the pattern

COUNT OVER is part of a bigger window-function pattern. If you want the “why”, start here: Aggregate Window Functions

Prove it with a real query

Reading docs is useful. Writing the query correctly under pressure is the skill.

Order Volume, Customer by Customer

Support Status

  • Supported: yes
  • Minimum Version: Snowflake runs on a continuously deployed, versionless engine, so minimum version information does not apply.

Official Documentation

For the authoritative spec, use the vendor docs. This page is the fast “sanity check”.

View Snowflake Documentation →

Looking for more functions across all SQL dialects? Visit the full SQL Dialects & Window Functions Documentation.