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You can quickly create a named range by using a selection of cells in the worksheet.

Note: Named ranges that are created from selecting cells have a workbook-level scope.

Select the range you want to name, including the row or column labels.
Click Formulas > Create from Selection.
In the Create Names from Selection dialog box, select the checkbox (es) depending on the location of your row/column header. If you have only a header row at the top of the table, then just select Top row. Suppose you have a top row and left column header, then select Top row and Left column options, and so on.
Click OK.

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What’s in the name?

If you are working with Excel spreadsheets, it could mean a lot of time saving and efficiency.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create Named Ranges in Excel and how to use it to save time.

Named Ranges in Excel – An Introduction
Benefits of Creating Named Ranges in Excel
- Use Names instead of Cell References
- No Need to Go Back to the Dataset to Select Cells
- Named Ranges Make Formulas Dynamic
How to Create Named Ranges in Excel
- Method #1 – Using Define Name
- Method #2: Using the Name Box
- Method #3: Using Create From Selection Option
- Naming Convention for Named Ranges in Excel
Too Many Named Ranges in Excel? Don’t Worry
- Getting the Names of All the Named Ranges
- Displaying the Matching Named Ranges
How to Edit Named Ranges in Excel
Useful Named Range Shortcuts (the Power of F3)
Creating Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel
- How does Dynamic Named Ranges Work?

Named Ranges in Excel – An Introduction

If someone has to call me or refer to me, they will use my name (instead of saying a male is staying in so and so place with so and so height and weight).

Right?

Similarly, in Excel, you can give a name to a cell or a range of cells.

Now, instead of using the cell reference (such as A1 or A1:A10), you can simply use the name that you assigned to it.

For example, suppose you have a data set as shown below:

In this data set, if you have to refer to the range that has the Date, you will have to use A2:A11 in formulas. Similarly, for Sales Rep and Sales, you will have to use B2:B11 and C2:C11.

While it’s alright when you only have a couple of data points, but in case you huge complex data sets, using cell references to refer to data could be time-consuming.

Excel Named Ranges makes it easy to refer to data sets in Excel.

You can create a named range in Excel for each data category, and then use that name instead of the cell references. For example, dates can be named ‘Date’, Sales Rep data can be named ‘SalesRep’ and sales data can be named ‘Sales’.

You can also create a name for a single cell. For example, if you have the sales commission percentage in a cell, you can name that cell as ‘Commission’.

Benefits of Creating Named Ranges in Excel

Here are the benefits of using named ranges in Excel.

Use Names instead of Cell References

When you create Named Ranges in Excel, you can use these names instead of the cell references.

For example, you can use =SUM(SALES) instead of =SUM(C2:C11) for the above data set.

Have a look at ṭhe formulas listed below. Instead of using cell references, I have used the Named Ranges.

Number of sales with value more than 500: =COUNTIF(Sales,”>500″)
Sum of all the sales done by Tom: =SUMIF(SalesRep,”Tom”,Sales)
Commission earned by Joe (sales by Joe multiplied by commission percentage):
=SUMIF(SalesRep,”Joe”,Sales)*Commission

You would agree that these formulas are easy to create and easy to understand (especially when you share it with someone else or revisit it yourself.

No Need to Go Back to the Dataset to Select Cells

Another significant benefit of using Named Ranges in Excel is that you don’t need to go back and select the cell ranges.

You can just type a couple of alphabets of that named range and Excel will show the matching named ranges (as shown below):

Named Ranges Make Formulas Dynamic

By using Named Ranges in Excel, you can make Excel formulas dynamic.

For example, in the case of sales commission, instead of using the value 2.5%, you can use the Named Range.

Now, if your company later decides to increase the commission to 3%, you can simply update the Named Range, and all the calculation would automatically update to reflect the new commission.

How to Create Named Ranges in Excel

Here are three ways to create Named Ranges in Excel:

Method #1 – Using Define Name

Here are the steps to create Named Ranges in Excel using Define Name:

This will create a Named Range SALESREP.

Method #2: Using the Name Box

Select the range for which you want to create a name (do not select headers).
Go to the Name Box on the left of Formula bar and Type the name of the with which you want to create the Named Range.
Note that the Name created here will be available for the entire Workbook. If you wish to restrict it to a worksheet, use Method 1.

Method #3: Using Create From Selection Option

This is the recommended way when you have data in tabular form, and you want to create named range for each column/row.

For example, in the dataset below, if you want to quickly create three named ranges (Date, Sales_Rep, and Sales), then you can use the method shown below.

Here are the steps to quickly create named ranges from a dataset:

This will create three Named Ranges – Date, Sales_Rep, and Sales.

Note that it automatically picks up names from the headers. If there are any space between words, it inserts an underscore (as you can’t have spaces in named ranges).

Naming Convention for Named Ranges in Excel

There are certain naming rules you need to know while creating Named Ranges in Excel:

The first character of a Named Range should be a letter and underscore character(_), or a backslash(). If it’s anything else, it will show an error. The remaining characters can be letters, numbers, special characters, period, or underscore.
You can not use names that also represent cell references in Excel. For example, you can’t use AB1 as it is also a cell reference.
You can’t use spaces while creating named ranges. For example, you can’t have Sales Rep as a named range. If you want to combine two words and create a Named Range, use an underscore, period or uppercase characters to create it. For example, you can have Sales_Rep, SalesRep, or SalesRep.
- While creating named ranges, Excel treats uppercase and lowercase the same way. For example, if you create a named range SALES, then you will not be able to create another named range such as ‘sales’ or ‘Sales’.
A Named Range can be up to 255 characters long.

Too Many Named Ranges in Excel? Don’t Worry

Sometimes in large data sets and complex models, you may end up creating a lot of Named Ranges in Excel.

What if you don’t remember the name of the Named Range you created?

Don’t worry – here are some useful tips.

Getting the Names of All the Named Ranges

Here are the steps to get a list of all the named ranges you created:

This will give you a list of all the Named Ranges in that workbook. To use a named range (in formulas or a cell), double click on it.

Displaying the Matching Named Ranges

If you have some idea about the Name, type a few initial characters, and Excel will show a drop down of the matching names.

How to Edit Named Ranges in Excel

If you have already created a Named Range, you can edit it using the following steps:

Useful Named Range Shortcuts (the Power of F3)

Here are some useful keyboard shortcuts that will come handy when you are working with Named Ranges in Excel:

To get a list of all the Named Ranges and pasting it in Formula: F3
To create new name using Name Manager Dialogue Box: Control + F3
To create Named Ranges from Selection: Control + Shift + F3

Creating Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel

So far in this tutorial, we have created static Named Ranges.

This means that these Named Ranges would always refer to the same dataset.

For example, if A1:A10 has been named as ‘Sales’, it would always refer to A1:A10.

If you add more sales data, then you would have to manually go and update the reference in the named range.

In the world of ever-expanding data sets, this may end up taking up a lot of your time. Every time you get new data, you may have to update the Named Ranges in Excel.

To tackle this issue, we can create Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel that would automatically account for additional data and include it in the existing Named Range.

For example, For example, if I add two additional sales data points, a dynamic named range would automatically refer to A1:A12.

This kind of Dynamic Named Range can be created by using Excel INDEX function. Instead of specifying the cell references while creating the Named Range, we specify the formula. The formula automatically updated when the data is added or deleted.

Let’s see how to create Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel.

Suppose we have the sales data in cell A2:A11.

Here are the steps to create Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel:

1. Go to the Formula tab and click on Define Name.
2. In the New Name dialogue box type the following:
  - Name: Sales
  - Scope: Workbook
  - Refers to: =$A$2:INDEX($A$2:$A$100,COUNTIF($A$2:$A$100,”<>”&””))
3. Click OK.

Done!

You now have a dynamic named range with the name ‘Sales’. This would automatically update whenever you add data to it or remove data from it.

How does Dynamic Named Ranges Work?

To explain how this work, you need to know a bit more about Excel INDEX function.

Most people use INDEX to return a value from a list based on the row and column number.

But the INDEX function also has another side to it.

It can be used to return a cell reference when it is used as a part of a cell reference.

For example, here is the formula that we have used to create a dynamic named range:

=$A$2:INDEX($A$2:$A$100,COUNTIF($A$2:$A$100,"<>"&""))

INDEX($A$2:$A$100,COUNTIF($A$2:$A$100,”<>”&””) –> This part of the formula is expected to return a value (which would be the 10th value from the list, considering there are ten items).

However, when used in front of a reference (=$A$2:INDEX($A$2:$A$100,COUNTIF($A$2:$A$100,”<>”&””))) it returns the reference to the cell instead of the value.

Hence, here it returns =$A$2:$A$11

If we add two additional values to the sales column, it would then return =$A$2:$A$13

When you add new data to the list, Excel COUNTIF function returns the number of non-blank cells in the data. This number is used by the INDEX function to fetch the cell reference of the last item in the list.

Note:

This would only work if there are no blank cells in the data.
In the example taken above, I have assigned a large number of cells (A2:A100) for the Named Range formula. You can adjust this based on your data set.

You can also use OFFSET function to create a Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel, however, since OFFSET function is volatile, it may lead a slow Excel workbook. INDEX, on the other hand, is semi-volatile, which makes it a better choice to create Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel.

You may also like the following Excel resources:

Free Excel Templates.
Free Online Excel Training (7-Part Online Video Course).
Useful Excel Macro Code Examples.
10 Advanced Excel VLOOKUP Examples.
Creating a Drop Down List in Excel.
Creating a Named Range in Google Sheets.
How to Reference Another Sheet or Workbook in Excel
How to Delete Named Range in Excel?

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Overview on Excel VBA Named Range

In excel we learned how to name a range and use it. Now we will learn how to use this name range in VBA and in addition to that we will also learn how to name a range from VBA. Range is a crucial part of a worksheet as it contains the data for us. Specifically giving names to ranges help us to identify which part of the range contains which data.

Let us begin with how can we name a range in excel and then use it in VBA. In order to name a group of ranges in excel, we simply select the ranges as follows,

Now there is a box where it is mentioned as A1 we click on it and give it a name.

The box is called a name box and we use it to give a name to our range. For the current example, I have given it as a named range. Now once we have given the range name how do we use it in VBA. Suppose we had to change the interior color of the above range previously in VBA what we did in VBA is we referred to the range as follows,

Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Range(“A1:B5”).Interior.Color = Some Color code

Now since we have given the range a name we can now do the following to change the color of the range as follows,

Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Range(“NEW”).Interior.Color = Some Color code

NEW is the range name we have given to cell selection A1:B5. This is how we use name ranges in VBA once we have named them.

Now we can also name the ranges using VBA too well it is a bit lengthy process than above but let us go through it.

To name a range in a worksheet by VBA we use the following code as follows,

Set myWorksheet = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Named Range")

Set myNamedRangeWorksheet = myWorksheet.Range("Range Value”)

How to Use Named Range in Excel VBA?

There are two methods to use the Named Range in Excel VBA:

First is that we name a range in excel and then use it in VBA.
The second method is we make a named range in VBA itself and use its properties.

Below are the different examples to use the Named Range in Excel:

You can download this VBA Named Range Excel Template here – VBA Named Range Excel Template

Example #1

For the first example let us use the name range we used above by making it in excel worksheet. Follow the below steps:

Step 1: Select the range which we want to name first as follows,

Step 2: There is a name box above the range we use that to give a name to the range, for this example, I have named the ranged as New.

Step 3: Now let us go to VBA, click on Developer’s tab to click on Visual Basic to get into VBA.

Step 4: Once we are in VBA we need to insert a module so that we can write code in it. Do as follows,

Step 5: Now let us start writing the code, to do that we need to name the macro first as follows,

Code:

Sub Sample()

End Sub

Step 6: Write the following code to activate the worksheet first in order to use the name range.

Code:

Sub Sample()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate

End Sub

Step 7: Now let us use our name range as follows,

Code:

Sub Sample()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Range("NEW").Value = 10

End Sub

Step 8: Once we run the above code we can see that every cell in our name range has the same value as follows,

Step 9: Let us also check if we can change the properties of the cell, Let us change the color of the range by using the name range as follows,

Code:

Sub Sample()

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Range("NEW").Value = 10
Range("NEW").Interior.Color = 255

End Sub

Step 10: Run the above code by pressing F5 or from the run button and see the following result,

Example #2

We will first create a named range by using VBA and the use the properties of the name range in VBA itself. Follow the below steps:

Step 1: Now let us start writing the code, to do that we need to name the macro first as follows,

Code:

Sub Sample1()

End Sub

Step 2: Declare a variable which will store the name of the name range as follows,

Code:

Sub Sample1()

Dim myRangeName As String

End Sub

Step 3: Now let us set the name range as follows, in this example whatever we have selected as the range will be our named range,

Code:

Sub Sample1()

Dim myRangeName As String
myRangeName = "namedRangeFromSelection"

End Sub

This is what I have in selection for named range cell range A1:C5 in worksheet 2,

Step 4: Now let us name the range by the following code,

Code:

Sub Sample1()

Dim myRangeName As String
myRangeName = "namedRangeFromSelection"
ThisWorkbook.Names.Add Name:=myRangeName, RefersTo:=Selection

End Sub

Step 5: Run the above code we can see that we have created the name range in worksheet 2 by the name of namedrangefromselection,

Step 6: Now let us use this name ranged as we used in the earlier example as follows,

Code:

Sub Sample1()

Dim myRangeName As String
myRangeName = "namedRangeFromSelection"
ThisWorkbook.Names.Add Name:=myRangeName, RefersTo:=Selection
Range("namedRangeFromSelection").Value = 10
Range("namedRangeFromSelection").Interior.Color = 255

End Sub

Step 7: Run the above code from the F5 button and see the result as follows,

Things to Remember

Named Ranges are the name given for a group or range of cells.
Named range is used to refer to the specific range of cells which needs to be accessed later on.
We can name a range in both excel or VBA.
While making a named range in VBA we need to use Add name function in VBA.

The basics of named ranges in Excel

What is a named range?

A named range is just a human-readable name for a range of cells in Excel. For example, if I name the range A1:A100 «data», I can use MAX to get the maximum value with a simple formula:

 =MAX(data) // max value

The beauty of named ranges is that you can use meaningful names in your formulas without thinking about cell references. Once you have a named range, just use it just like a cell reference. All of these formulas are valid with the named range «data»:

=MAX(data) // max value
=MIN(data) // min value
=COUNT(data) // total values
=AVERAGE(data) // min value

Video: How to create a named range

Creating a named range is easy

Creating a named range is fast and easy. Just select a range of cells, and type a name into the name box. When you press return, the name is created:

To quickly test the new range, choose the new name in the dropdown next to the name box. Excel will select the range on the worksheet.

Excel can create names automatically (ctrl + shift + F3)

If you have well structured data with labels, you can have Excel create named ranges for you. Just select the data, along with the labels, and use the «Create from Selection» command on the Formulas tab of the ribbon:

You can also use the keyboard shortcut control + shift + F3.

Using this feature, we can create named ranges for the population of 12 states in one step:

When you click OK, the names are created. You’ll find all newly created names in the drop down menu next to the name box:

With names created, you can use them in formulas like this

=SUM(MN,WI,MI)

Update named ranges in the Name Manager (Control + F3)

Once you create a named range, use the Name Manager (Control + F3) to update as needed. Select the name you want to work with, then change the reference directly (i.e. edit «refers to»), or click the button at right and select a new range.

There’s no need to click the Edit button to update a reference. When you click Close, the range name will be updated.

Note: if you select an entire named range on a worksheet, you can drag to a new location and the reference will be updated automatically. However, I don’t know a way to adjust range references by clicking and dragging directly on the worksheet. If you know a way to do this, chime in below!

See all named ranges (control + F3)

To quickly see all named ranges in a workbook, use the dropdown menu next to the name box.

If you want to see more detail, open the Name Manager (Control + F3), which lists all names with references, and provides a filter as well:

Note: in older versions of Excel on the Mac, there is no Name Manager, and you’ll see the Define Name dialog instead.

Copy and paste all named ranges (F3)

If you want a more persistent record of named ranges in a workbook, you can paste the full list of names anywhere you like. Go to Formulas > Use in Formula (or use the shortcut F3), then choose Paste names > Paste List:

When you click the Paste List button, you’ll see the names and references pasted into the worksheet:

See names directly on the worksheet

If you set the zoom level to less than 40%, Excel will show range names directly on the worksheet:

Thanks for this tip, Felipe!

Names have rules

When creating named ranges, follow these rules:

Names must begin with a letter, an underscore (_), or a backslash ()
Names can’t contain spaces and most punctuation characters.
Names can’t conflict with cell references – you can’t name a range «A1» or «Z100».
Single letters are OK for names («a», «b», «x», etc.), but the letters «r» and «c» are reserved.
Names are not case-sensitive – «home», «HOME», and «HoMe» are all the same to Excel.

Named ranges in formulas

Named ranges are easy to use in formulas

For example, lets say you name a cell in your workbook «updated». The idea is you can put the current date in the cell (Ctrl + and refer to the date elsewhere in the workbook.

The formula in B8 looks like this:

="Updated: "& TEXT(updated, "ddd, mmmm d, yyyy")

You can paste this formula anywhere in the workbook and it will display correctly. Whenever you change the date in «updated», the message will update wherever the formula is used. See this page for more examples.

Named ranges appear when typing a formula

Once you’ve created a named range, it will appear automatically in formulas when you type the first letter of the name. Press the tab key to enter the name when you have a match and want Excel to enter the name.

Named ranges can work like constants

Because named ranges are created in a central location, you can use them like constants without a cell reference. For example, you can create names like «MPG» (miles per gallon) and «CPG» (cost per gallon) with and assign fixed values:

Then you can use these names anywhere you like in formulas, and update their value in one central location.

Named ranges are absolute by default

By default, named ranges behave like absolute references. For example, in this worksheet, the formula to calculate fuel would be:

=C5/$D$2

The reference to D2 is absolute (locked) so the formula can be copied down without D2 changing.

If we name D2 «MPG» the formula becomes:

=C5/MPG

Since MPG is absolute by default, the formula can be copied down column D as-is.

Named ranges can also be relative

Although named ranges are absolute by default, they can also be relative. A relative named range refers to a range that is relative to the position of the active cell at the time the range is created. As a result, relative named ranges are useful building generic formulas that work wherever they are moved.

For example, you can create a generic «CellAbove» named range like this:

Select cell A2
Control + F3 to open Name Manager
Tab into ‘Refers to’ section, then type: =A1

CellAbove will now retrieve the value from the cell above wherever it is it used.

Important: make sure the active cell is at the correct location before creating the name.

Apply named ranges to existing formulas

If you have existing formulas that don’t use named ranges, you can ask Excel to apply the named ranges in the formulas for you. Start by selecting the cells that contain formulas you want to update. Then run Formulas > Define Names > Apply Names.

Excel will then replace references that have a corresponding named range with the name itself.

You can also apply names with find and replace:

Important: Save a backup of your worksheet, and select just the cells you want to change before using find and replace on formulas.

Key benefits of named ranges

Named ranges make formulas easier to read

The biggest single benefit to named ranges is they make formulas easier to read and maintain. This is because they replace cryptic references with meaningful names. For example, consider this worksheet with data on planets in our solar system. Without named ranges, a VLOOKUP formula to fetch «Position» from the table is quite cryptic:

=VLOOKUP($H$4,$B$3:$E$11,2,0)

However, with B3:E11 named «data», and H4 named «planet», we can write formulas like this:

=VLOOKUP(planet,data,2,0) // position
=VLOOKUP(planet,data,3,0) // diameter
=VLOOKUP(planet,data,4,0) // satellites

At a glance, you can see the only difference in these formulas in the column index.

Named ranges make formulas portable and reusable

Named ranges can make it much easier to reuse a formula in a different worksheet. If you define names ahead of time in a worksheet, you can paste in a formula that uses these names and it will «just work». This is a great way to quickly get a formula working.

For example, this formula counts unique values in a range of numeric data:

=SUM(--(FREQUENCY(data,data)>0))

To quickly «port» this formula to your own worksheet, name a range «data» and paste the formula into the worksheet. As long as «data» contains numeric values, the formula will work straightway.

Tip: I recommend that you create the needed range names *first* in the destination workbook, then copy in the formula as text only (i.e. don’t copy the cell that contains the formula in another worksheet, just copy the text of the formula). This stops Excel from creating names on-the-fly and lets you to fully control the name creation process. To copy only formula text, copy text from the formula bar, or copy via another application (i.e. browser, text editor, etc.).

Named ranges can be used for navigation

Named ranges are great for quick navigation. Just select the dropdown menu next to the name box, and choose a name. When you release the mouse, the range will be selected. When a named range exists on another sheet, you’ll be taken to that sheet automatically.

Named ranges work well with hyperlinks

Named ranges make hyperlinks easy. For example, if you name A1 in Sheet1 «home», you can create a hyperlink somewhere else that takes you back there.

To use a named range inside the HYPERLINK function, add a hash (#) in front of the named range:

=HYPERLINK("#home","take me home")

You can use this same syntax to create a hyperlink to a table:

=HYPERLINK("#Table1","Go to Table1")

Note: in older versions of Excel you can’t link to a table like this. However, you can define a name equal to a table (i.e. =Table1) and hyperlink to that.

Named ranges for data validation

Names ranges work well for data validation, since they let you use a logically named reference to validate input with a drop down menu. Below, the range G4:G8 is named «statuslist», then apply data validation with a List linked like this:

The result is a dropdown menu in column E that only allows values in the named range:

Dynamic Named Ranges

Names ranges are extremely useful when they automatically adjust to new data in a worksheet. A range set up this way is referred to as a «dynamic named range». There are two ways to make a range dynamic: formulas and tables.

Dynamic named range with a Table

A Table is the easiest way to create a dynamic named range. Select any cell in the data, then use the shortcut Control + T:

When you create an Excel Table, a name is automatically created (e.g. Table1), but you can rename the table as you like. Once you have created a table, it will expand automatically when data is added.

Dynamic named range with a formula

You can also create a dynamic named range with formulas, using functions like OFFSET and INDEX. Although these formulas are moderately complex, they provide a lightweight solution when you don’t want to use a table. The links below provide examples with full explanations:

Example of dynamic range formula with INDEX
Example of dynamic range formula with OFFSET

Table names in data validation

Since Excel Tables provide an automatic dynamic range, they would seem to be a natural fit for data validation rules, where the goal is to validate against a list that may be always changing. However, one problem with tables is that you can’t use structured references directly to create data validation or conditional formatting rules. In other words, you can’t use a table name in conditional formatting or data validation input areas.

However, as a workaround, you can define named a named range that points to a table, and then use the named range for data validation or conditional formatting. The video below runs through this approach in detail.

Video: How to use named ranges with tables

Deleting named ranges

Note: If you have formulas that refer to named ranges, you may want to update the formulas first before removing names. Otherwise, you’ll see #NAME? errors in formulas that still refer to deleted names. Always save your worksheet before removing named ranges in case you have problems and need to revert to the original.

Named ranges adjust when deleting and inserting cells

When you delete *part* of a named range, or if insert cells/rows/columns inside a named range, the range reference will adjust accordingly and remain valid. However, if you delete all of the cells that enclose a named range, the named range will lose the reference and display a #REF error. For example, if I name A1 «test», then delete column A, the name manager will show «refers to» as:

=Sheet1!#REF!

Delete names with Name Manager

To remove named ranges from a workbook manually, open the name manager, select a range, and click the Delete button. If you want to remove more than one name at the same time, you can Shift + Click or Ctrl + Click to select multiple names, then delete in one step.

Delete names with errors

If you have a lot of names with reference errors, you can use the filter button in the name manager to filter on names with errors:

Then shift+click to select all names and delete.

Named ranges and Scope

Named ranges in Excel have something called «scope», which determines whether a named range is local to a given worksheet, or global across the entire workbook. Global names have a scope of «workbook», and local names have a scope equal to the sheet name they exist on. For example, the scope for a local name might be «Sheet2».

The purpose of scope

Named ranges with a global scope are useful when you want all sheets in a workbook to have access to certain data, variables, or constants. For example, you might use a global named range a tax rate assumption used in several worksheets.

Local scope

Local scope means a name is works only on the sheet it was created on. This means you can have multiple worksheets in the same workbook that all use the same name. For example, perhaps you have a workbook with monthly tracking sheets (one per month) that use named ranges with the same name, all scoped locally. This might allow you to reuse the same formulas in different sheets. The local scope allows the names in each sheet to work correctly without colliding with names in the other sheets.

To refer to a name with a local scope, you can prefix the sheet name to the range name:

Sheet1!total_revenue
Sheet2!total_revenue
Sheet3!total_revenue

Range names created with the name box automatically have global scope. To override this behavior, add the sheet name when defining the name:

Sheet3!my_new_name

Global scope

Global scope means a name will work anywhere in a workbook. For example, you could name a cell «last_update», enter a date in the cell. Then you can use the formula below to display the date last updated in any worksheet.

=last_update

Global names must be unique within a workbook.

Local scope

Locally scoped named ranges make sense for worksheets that use named ranges for local assumptions only. For example, perhaps you have a workbook with monthly tracking sheets (one per month) that use named ranges with the same name, all scoped locally. The local scope allows the names in each sheet to work correctly without colliding with names in the other sheets.

Managing named range scope

By default, new names created with the namebox are global, and you can’t edit the scope of a named range after it’s created. However, as a workaround, you can delete and recreate a name with the desired scope.

If you want to change several names at once from global to local, sometimes it makes sense to copy the sheet that contains the names. When you duplicate a worksheet that contains named ranges, Excel copies the named ranges to the second sheet, changing the scope to local at the same time. After you have the second sheet with locally scoped names, you can optionally delete the first sheet.

Jan Karel Pieterse and Charles Williams have developed a utility called the Name Manager that provides many useful operations for named ranges. You can download the Name Manager utility here.

Источник

Names are one convenient identity. Imagine how we’d be addressed if we didn’t have names? Excel tries to make our lives easier by providing us with a similar convenience.

Excel’s Names feature can be surprisingly powerful for organizing data in Excel. Named Ranges let you name a group of cells and then refer to them as a unit as if they were a single cell.

Using named ranges can make formulas easier to read and understand and provides simple navigation via the Name Box. Named ranges are easy to create and can be used for a variety of purposes.

This tutorial will teach you how to use Names feature in Excel.

What are Named Ranges
Benefits of Creating Named Ranges in Excel
Rules for naming Named Ranges
How to Create Named Ranges in Excel
- Method 1 – Creating Named Ranges from the Name Box
- Method 2 – Creating Named Ranges from the ‘Define Name’ Option
How to Edit Named Ranges in Excel
How to Delete Named Ranges
How to Create Names from Cell Text
Named Ranges with Hyperlinks
How to Create an Excel Name for a Constant
How to Make a Named Formula
Named Ranges for Data Validation
See all Names Directly on the Worksheet
Scope of a Name
- Local Worksheet Scope
- Global Workbook scope
Creating Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel
Named Range Shortcuts

What are Named Ranges

In Excel, a cell or a range of cells can be named to make their usage easier. It would be simpler to use a named range directly in a formula or select said range.

You can name:

a Range of cells,
a Formula,
a Constant or
a Table

Benefits of Creating Named Ranges in Excel

The prime advantage of named ranges is the ease they provide. You don’t have to keep glancing at certain cells or tables to pick up values or cell references and can use a named range instead.
Using a named range will save typos that may otherwise occur while typing values or formulas since entering named ranges is a clickable option.
They are of great help to use in formulas as the named range appears upon typing the first letter of the name.
Named ranges make formulas movable and they can be used from sheet to sheet and workbook to workbook.
A dynamic named range can automatically account for expanding and contracting data (when values are added or deleted from a dataset) without having to change the formula or recalculate.
A named range can be used for data validation (creating drop-down menus) without much hassle.
Hyperlinks can quickly be created from existing named ranges.
Named ranges make navigation and directing very easy. You can click on a named range in the Name Box and arrive at the named range.
For all the above benefits that named ranges deliver, they are very simple and quick to create.

Rules for naming Named Ranges

There are several pointers not to trespass while creating named ranges:

A name should have less than 255 characters.
A name should not have space and punctuation characters (exceptions mentioned as follows).
A name’s first character has to be a letter, an underscore ( _ ), or a backslash ( ).
A name may contain a question mark but never as a first character.
A name is not case-sensitive. (sale, Sale, and SALE are treated as one name).
A name must not resemble a cell reference (e.g., A1, A$1).
A name may be a single letter name but must not be r, R, c, or C as «R» and «C» signify row and column selection shortcuts.

How to Create Named Ranges in Excel

There are two methods to create named ranges in excel. We will see both these methods in this section.

Let’s say we have the data as shown below and we want to create two named ranges – one for the History marks and the second one for the Geography marks.

We will create these two named ranges using two different methods to help you get a hang of both methods.

Method 1 – Creating Named Ranges from the Name Box

The how-to here is pretty simple. Select the range, enter the desired name in the «name box» and press Enter. Done! Really! We can show you how easy this is with a visual.

Here’s how it’s done:

For naming the History marks range, we will select the History marks i.e., range C3:C7.

Click on the name box.
Enter the desired name («History» in this case).

Press the Enter key.

Method 2 – Creating Named Ranges from the ‘Define Name’ Option

Names can also be created from the «Define Name» button, in the formulas tab. To use this method follow the below steps:

Select the range which you want to name, in our case it will be D3:D7.
Navigate to the «Formulas Tab» and click the «Define Name» button.

Now, in the «New Name» window enter the desired name for the named range.

After entering the desired name click the «OK» button and it is done.

How to Edit Named Ranges in Excel

Suppose you accidentally missed a cell in the range or want to change the name of your named range. This means the named range needs to be edited.

Named ranges can be managed through the «Name Manager» which can be found under the «Formulas» tab > Name Manager or can be accessed through the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F3.

This is what you will see when you open the Name Manager:

Here, you can see the named ranges in your sheet and their details. Double click the named range you wish to edit or select the named range and click the «Edit…» button.

Clicking on the «Edit…» button will open the «Edit Name» window where you can edit the name or the cell range of the named range. When done, click «OK» and then click the «Close» button on the Name Manager.

How to Delete Named Ranges

The Name Manager can also be used to delete named ranges. Click the named range you wish to remove, press the «Delete» button.

You will get a pop-up confirmation asking whether you want to delete the named range or not. Press «OK» and that will delete your chosen named range.

Note that the Name Manager also has a «Filter» button that can be used for filtering the names and only viewing the relevant names at a given time. It can be quite handy when you have a lot of names to deal with.

Recommended Reading: How to Lock and Protect Cells in Excel

How to Create Names from Cell Text

For batch information where the data is in the columnar or row format (i.e., in either columnar form with headings at the top and its relevant data below. Or in rows with headings on the left and its data on the right) there is a quicker way of naming ranges. We can use the «Create from Selection» feature in Excel to give the heading’s name to the range. Here is how:

So, we have the dataset containing marks scored by students in various subjects. The layout is in columnar form. We can use the «Create from Selection» feature in this case as –

Select the range and the heading. We will select columns C, D, E, and F to name each range according to its heading.

In the «Formulas» tab, click «Create from Selection» or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + F3. This is what you should see:

According to the layout of your dataset, select the row or column where the headings need to be picked from. For our case, we will select the «Top row» option as headings. «Marks in History», «Marks in Geography», «Marks in Science», and «Marks in Math» are in the top row.
After selecting the appropriate options click «OK».

Doing this has created multiple named ranges for our data. You can see from the drop-down in the Name Box that we have 4 named ranges created according to the headings of each column.

Note that the spaces in headings are replaced with underscores while creating the names.

Named Ranges with Hyperlinks

If you thought named ranges made you bounce around with ease through worksheets, wait for their synergy with hyperlinks. Named ranges make hyperlinking a smoother process as data required for hyperlinking would already be grouped and named. Let’s show you how this will work.

For the sake of this example let’s assume that we have another named range «Student» in Sheet2 as shown.

We will hyperlink the Student column from Sheet1 to direct us to the student range in Sheet2.

Select the Student range in Sheet2 (i.e., B3:B7).

Right-click the selected area and click on «Link». The «Insert Hyperlink» window is what you should see.

We will select «Student» from «Defined Names» which we have already defined in Sheet2.
Click «OK».

We have hyperlinked the Student Names to Sheet2 using the «Student» named range. Clicking on any of the marks should take us to the «Student» range on Sheet2. Let’s check.

Affirmative!

How to Create an Excel Name for a Constant

The Name Manager can also be used to create a name for a constant value. This constant value will not be a cell reference on the sheet but it can be used by its name in formulas.

For our example, we will use a named constant to calculate the percentage of the overall marks of each of 5 students. We start by accessing the Name Manager and applying for a new name.

The percentage will be calculated by dividing the sum of the attained marks by the total (each subject is marked out of 50. Which makes 50 x 4 = 200). We will set «200» as our named constant and give it the name «total».

Using «total», we can calculate the percentages without having to refer to «200».

Here, we have substituted «200» for «total» and calculated each student’s overall percentage.

How to Make a Named Formula

Taking the above example, what if we named the whole formula and get the same results? Sounds like a good bargain for smart input. Let’s see how to do that.

We first head to good old Name Manager and «New Name» again. We will name our formula «Percentage». The reference of this name is shown as

=SUM(Sheet2!$C3:$F3)/total

The range of the SUM in the formula is «C3:F3». The columns have been locked into absolute references by the $ sign. Notice that the rows have not been locked as absolute references so that the formula can be dragged to apply to all the rows.

Now just by using «Percentage», we can use the named formula to calculate the students’ percentages.

Named Ranges for Data Validation

Named ranges make the «Data Validation» feature in Excel a breeze. You can create a drop-down menu with values from a named range.

This comes with some advantages. You can simply refer to the named range in the Data Validation window instead of having to directly enter the cell ranges. It also gives a point of relevance to see the named range in sight. Let’s see how it’s done.

Let’s assume – we have a list of products and their prices and discounts. Our objective here is to calculate the discounted price for each product after entering its relevant discount. Instead of copy-pasting each discount, we want the option to select the discount from a drop-down menu for each cell in column D.

We will create a drop-down menu with the «Discount» named range (G3:G6).

Select the cells for which you want to create the drop-downs (D3:D9 for our case).

Under the «Data» tab, in the «Data Tools» section, select «Data Validation» dropdown and click the next «Data Validation» option.
Inside the «Data Validation» window, under «Allow», choose «List» and enter the required named range under «Source». We will enter the reference of our «Discount» range here.

Click «OK». This has very conveniently created drop-down menus for all cells D3:D9, taking values from the «Discount» named range.

Now we can select the respective discounts and arrive at our «Price after discount».

See all Names Directly on the Worksheet

There is a small hack that allows you to see all the names directly on the worksheet. You can view all your named ranges (marked with the names) on the sheet if you zoom out to anything less than 40%. We’ll follow that religiously and zoom out at 39%.

The only thing amiss about this is that the named range text is like a watermark; it’s not opaque and will not work so well for small and narrow columns. This hack is suitable for data with a wide-set column or several more rows so the name of the range can be seen. Otherwise, it would be on the brink of being unnoticeable.

Scope of a Name

If you open the Name Manager and have a look at the named ranges, you will find that each named range has a scope (e.g., Sheet1, Sheet2, Workbook, etc.) against it.

Scope refers to the location, or level, within which the name is recognized. For instance, in the above image «range4» can only be used within Sheet1 whereas all the other names can be used across the entire workbook.

Based on this there can be 2 levels of scopes:

Local worksheet scope
Global workbook scope

Local Worksheet Scope

Locally scoped names can only be recognized and used on the sheet it is created upon. This implies that inside a single workbook we can have the same locally scoped names (each within a separate worksheet). For instance – you can have a yearly expense workbook with a worksheet for each month and then we can have a single locally scoped name within each worksheet.

Pro Tip: Named ranges made using the Name Box have global scope by default. However, you can tie the named range down to a sheet (in other words, make it locally scoped) simply by using the sheet’s name before the range’s name (with an exclamation mark).

Sheet1!Expenses

Global Workbook scope

Globally scoped names can be recognized and used across the whole workbook. Global names must always be unique within the workbook. For instance – we can create a global name to define the value of a constant like pi (as 3.14) and use it across the whole workbook.

Creating Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel

Up until now with all the examples above, we can say that if we were to expand on the data by adding more values, the formulas already applied wouldn’t account for the new values. This means that whenever values will be added to the dataset of the named range (e.g., B2:B15) which expands the dataset to B2:B20, the named range will still not account for the additional 5 values and remain a named range for B2:B15. This means the named range is static as opposed to a dynamic named range. The additional step that would need to be taken to fix this is to edit the named range and modify the range mentioned.

A dynamic named range on the contrary will itself adjust for changes in the range. To make our named range dynamic, we will add a function to the reference of the named range. If this sounds too complicated, let us show you how it’s done.

There are a couple of ways of creating a dynamic named range. One of them is using the OFFSET function. The drawback is however that OFFSET is a volatile function; with each and every change in a worksheet, OFFSET recalculates. This is not an issue for an uncomplicated worksheet with small datasets. But with complex and large worksheets, you will find that OFFSET slows things down. In such a case, the other way to create a dynamic named range is using the INDEX function.

So if you can use OFFSET for small datasets and INDEX for large ones, why not just master the INDEX function and use that? So this use of the INDEX function for dynamic named ranges is what we’ll be tapping into right now. Let’s see an example:

Taking simple sales data, we will add a dynamic named range that we will later use to calculate the total sales:

Open the «Name Manager» > click the «New Name» option.
Set the desired name (we are naming our named range «Sales»).

In «Refers to», feed the following formula, and click «OK».

=$C$3:INDEX($C$3:$C$1048576,COUNTIF($C$3:$C$1048576,"<>"&" "))

We have used the SUM function to total the named range «Sales». It has given us a total of «3186» which is also confirmed from selecting the cells with the results displayed in the status bar below.

Now let’s add some values to this dataset to see if the formula applied complies with changes in the data.

We have added new sales data and the named range has updated itself because of the formula we have put in to build the range. So how does this formula work?

Let’s see the formula again:

=$C$3:INDEX($C$3:$C$1048576,COUNTIF($C$3:$C$1048576,"<>"&" "))

Since we’re using the INDEX function in the formula, let’s get familiar with it. The INDEX function returns a value or cell reference of a particular cell in a given range. The part we need to work with right now is the return of a cell reference.

The COUNTIF function counts the number of cells within a range that meets the given condition. The range given to COUNTIF is C3:C1048576. COUNTIF needs to look through the entire C column ahead of C3 (if you press Ctrl + down key, you will find the last row given in Excel which is row number 1048576. That is why we have used C1048576 in our formula. According to how big or small your data is, you can refer to any row ahead of your last value, suppose 100 rows ahead of your last value. In this way the formula will account for all changes made up to the last-mentioned row).

The condition given to COUNTIF is counting the number of cells from C3 to C1048576 that should not be equal to (defined by «<>») blank cells (defined by » «). Take note that this will work only if the data does not consist of blank cells as the blank cells are the ones to be ignored by the function.

According to this condition, the non-blank cells that COUNTIF was able to find from the given range were C3:C9. Passing this result to the INDEX function, INDEX then returns the value of the last item of the list (which would be C9’s value i.e., 404). The formula starts with the first cell that we need to include in our named range (i.e. C3, fed as an absolute reference by «$» signs). Using this reference before the INDEX function makes INDEX return the cell reference instead of the value which will then be C9.

The result of the whole formula has worked like this:

Note: Dynamic named ranges aren’t shown in the Name Box. Use the Name Manager to see all named ranges (static and dynamic).

Named Range Shortcuts

The more matters are sitting on your fingertips, the better. To wrap things up, here are some useful keyboard shortcuts with named ranges that should move you around the sheet even faster.

F3 – Pops up a «Paste Name» dialogue box for pasting a named range from the full list of named ranges.
Ctrl + F3 – Opens «Name Manager»
Ctrl + alt + F3 – Pops up «New Name» dialog box for creating a new named range.
Ctrl + shift + F3 – Pops up «Create Names from Selection» dialog box for creating named ranges from headings/titles.
F5 – Pops up the «Go To» dialog box for navigating to the chosen named range from the full list of named ranges.

With that, we’ve discussed the ins and outs of the Named Ranges in Excel. They are simple, but extremely useful while working with larger datasets and multiple ranges. While you solidify your expertise with some practice, we’ll have another awesome tutorial ready for you ready!

Источник

What is Name Range in Excel?

The name range in Excel is the range that has been given a name for future reference. To make a range as a named range, select the range of data and then insert a table. Then, we put a name to the range from the Name Box on the left-hand side of the window. After this, we can refer to the range by its name in any formula.

The name range in Excel makes it much cooler to keep track of things, especially when using formulas. You can assign a name to a range. No problem with any change in that range; you need to update the range from the Name Manager in ExcelThe name manager in Excel is used to create, edit, and delete named ranges. For example, we sometimes use names instead of giving cell references. By using the name manager, we can create a new reference, edit it, or delete it.read more. You do not need to update every formula manually. Similarly, you can create a name for a formula. Then, if you want to use that formula in another formula or another location, refer to it by name.

The name ranges are significant because you can put any names in your formulas without considering cell references/addresses. Furthermore, you can assign the range with any name.
Create a named range for any data or a named constant and use these names in your formulas in place of data references. In this way, you can make your formulas easier to comprehend better. A named range is just a human-understandable name for a range of cells in Excel.
Using the name range in Excel, you can simplify and comprehend your formulas better. For example, you can assign a name for a range in an excel sheet for a function, a constant, or table data. Once you start using the names in your Excel sheet, you can easily understand these names.

What is Name Range in Excel?
- Define Names For a Selected Range
  - Excel names the cells based on the labels in the range you designated.
  - Update named ranges in the Name Manager (Control + F3)
- How to Use Name Range in Excel?
  - Example #1 Create a name by using the Define Name option
  - Example #2 Make a named range by using Excel Name Manager
- Name Range using VBA.
- Things to Remember
- Recommended Articles

Define Names For a Selected Range

Select the data range you want to assign a name, then select formulas and create from the selection.

Click on the “Create Names from Selection,” then select the “Top row,” “Left column,” “Bottom row,” or “Right column” checkbox and select “OK.”

Excel names the cells based on the labels in the range you designated.

Use names in formulas, then select a cell and enter a formula.
Place the cursor where you want to use the name range formula.
Type the first letter of the name, and select the name from the list that appears.
Or, select “Formulas,” then use in formula and select the name you want to use.
Press the “Enter” key.

Update named ranges in the Name Manager (Control + F3)

You can update the name from the Name Manager. Press “Ctrl” and “F3” to update the name. Select the name you want to change, then change the reference range directly.

How to Use Name Range in Excel?

Let us understand the working of conditional formatting by simple Excel examples.

You can download this Using Names in Excel Template here – Using Names in Excel Template

Example #1 Create a name by using the Define Name option

Below are the steps to create a name by using the “Define Name” option:

First, select the cell(s).
On the “Formulas” tab, click the “Define Name” in the “Defined Names” group.
In the “New Name” dialog box, specify three things:
First, in the “Name” box, type the range name.
In the “Scope” drop-down, set the name scope (Workbook by default).
In the “Refers to” box, check the reference and correct it if needed. Finally, click “OK” to save the changes and close the dialog box.

Example #2 Make a named range by using Excel Name Manager

Go to the “Formulas” tab, then the “Defined Names” group, and click the “Name Manager” or press “Ctrl + F3” (the preferred way).

In the top left-hand corner of the “Name Manager” dialog window, click the “New… button:”

Name Range using VBA.

We can apply the naming in VBA; here is the example as follows:

Sub sbNameRange()

‘Adding a Name

Names.Add Name:=”myData”, RefersTo:=”=Sheet1!$A$1:$A$10″

‘OR

‘You can use Name property of a Range.

Sheet1.Range(“$A$1:$A$10”).Name = “myData”

End Sub

Things to Remember

We must follow the below instruction while using the name range.

The names can start with a letter, backslash (), or an underscore (_).
The name should be under 255 characters long.
The names must be continuous and cannot contain spaces and most punctuation characters.
There must be no conflict with cell references in names using in excelCell reference in excel is referring the other cells to a cell to use its values or properties. For instance, if we have data in cell A2 and want to use that in cell A1, use =A2 in cell A1, and this will copy the A2 value in A1.read more.
We can use single letters as names, but the letters “r” and “c” are reserved in Excel.
The names are not case-sensitive – “Tanuj”, “TANUJ”, and “TaNuJ” are all the same in Excel.

What Is A Named Range?

Creating a named range allows you to refer to a cell or group of cells with a custom name instead of the usual column/row reference. The HUGE benefit to using Named Ranges is it adds the ability to describe the data inside your cells. Let’s look at a quick example:

Can you tell if shipping costs are charged with the product price?

= (B7 + B5 * C4) * (1 + A3)
=(ShippingCharge + ProductPrice * Quantity) * (1 + TaxRate)

Hopefully, you can clearly see option number TWO gives you immediate insight to whether the cost of the products includes shipping costs. This allows the user to easily understand how the formula is calculating without having to waste time searching through cells to figure out what is what.

How Do I Use Named Ranges?

As a financial analyst, I play around with a bunch of rates. Examples could be anything from a tax rate to an estimated inflation rate. I use named ranges to organize my variables that either are changed infrequently (ie Month or Year) or something that will be static for a good amount of time (ie inflation rate). Here are a list of common names I use on a regular basis:

ReportDate
Year
Month
FcstID
TaxRate
RawData

Creating Unique Names On The Fly

It is super easy to create a Named Range. All you have to do is highlight the cell(s) you want to reference and give it a name in the Name Box. You name cannot have any spaces in it, so if you need to separate words you can either capitalize the beginning of each new word or use an underscore (_). Make sure you hit the ENTER key after you have finished typing the name to confirm the creation of the Named Range.

As a side note, any Named Range created with the Name Box has a Workbook scope. This means the named range can be accessed by any worksheet in your Excel file.

Creating Names With The «Name Manager»

If you want to customize your named ranges even more, you can open up the Name Manager (Formulas tab > Defined Names group > Name Manager button) to edit and create new named ranges.

I won’t go into great detail in this article, but know that with the Name Manager you can

Change the name of an existing Named Range
Change the reference formula
Specify the scope (what worksheets the name can be accessed from)

On To The VBA

Now that you have had a brief overview on Named Ranges, lets dig into some VBA macros you can use to help automate the use of Named Ranges.

Add A Named Range

The below VBA code shows ways you can create various types of named ranges.

Sub NameRange_Add()
‘PURPOSE: Various ways to create a Named Range
‘SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com

Dim cell As Range
Dim rng As Range
Dim RangeName As String
Dim CellName As String

‘Single Cell Reference (Workbook Scope)
RangeName = «Price»
CellName = «D7»

Set cell = Worksheets(«Sheet1»).Range(CellName)
ThisWorkbook.Names.Add Name:=RangeName, RefersTo:=cell

‘Single Cell Reference (Worksheet Scope)
RangeName = «Year»
CellName = «A2»

Set cell = Worksheets(«Sheet1»).Range(CellName)
Worksheets(«Sheet1»).Names.Add Name:=RangeName, RefersTo:=cell

‘Range of Cells Reference (Workbook Scope)
RangeName = «myData»
CellName = «F9:J18»

Set cell = Worksheets(«Sheet1»).Range(CellName)
ThisWorkbook.Names.Add Name:=RangeName, RefersTo:=cell

‘Secret Named Range (doesn’t show up in Name Manager)
RangeName = «Username»
CellName = «L45»

Set cell = Worksheets(«Sheet1»).Range(CellName)
ThisWorkbook.Names.Add Name:=RangeName, RefersTo:=cell, Visible:=False

End Sub

Loop Through Named Ranges

This VBA macro code shows how you can cycle through the named ranges within your spreadsheet.

Sub NamedRange_Loop()
‘PURPOSE: Delete all Named Ranges in the Active Workbook
‘SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com

Dim nm As Name

‘Loop through each named range in workbook
  For Each nm In ActiveWorkbook.Names
    Debug.Print nm.Name, nm.RefersTo
  Next nm

  ‘Loop through each named range scoped to a specific worksheet
  For Each nm In Worksheets(«Sheet1»).Names
    Debug.Print nm.Name, nm.RefersTo
  Next nm

End Sub

Delete All Named Ranges

If you need to clean up a bunch of junk named ranges, this VBA code will let you do it.

Sub NamedRange_DeleteAll()
‘PURPOSE: Delete all Named Ranges in the ActiveWorkbook (Print Areas optional)
‘SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com

Dim nm As Name
Dim DeleteCount As Long

‘Delete PrintAreas as well?
  UserAnswer = MsgBox(«Do you want to skip over Print Areas?», vbYesNoCancel)
    If UserAnswer = vbYes Then SkipPrintAreas = True
    If UserAnswer = vbCancel Then Exit Sub

‘Error Handler in case Delete Function Errors out
On Error GoTo Skip

‘Loop through each name and delete
For Each nm In ActiveWorkbook.Names
If SkipPrintAreas = True And Right(nm.Name, 10) = «Print_Area» Then GoTo Skip

‘Error Handler in case Delete Function Errors out
On Error GoTo Skip

        ‘Delete Named Range
      nm.Delete
      DeleteCount = DeleteCount + 1

    Skip:
   ‘Reset Error Handler
      On Error GoTo 0
  Next

     ‘Report Result
  If DeleteCount = 1 Then
    MsgBox «[1] name was removed from this workbook.»
  Else
    MsgBox «[» & DeleteCount & «] names were removed from this workbook.»
  End If

End Sub

Delete Named Ranges with Error References

This VBA code will delete only Named Ranges with errors in them. These errors can be caused by worksheets being deleted or rows/columns being deleted.

Sub NamedRange_DeleteErrors()
‘PURPOSE: Delete all Named Ranges with #REF error in the ActiveWorkbook
‘SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com

Dim nm As Name
Dim DeleteCount As Long

‘Loop through each name and delete
  For Each nm In ActiveWorkbook.Names
    If InStr(1, nm.RefersTo, «#REF!») > 0 Then
      ‘Error Handler in case Delete Function Errors out
        On Error GoTo Skip

            ‘Delete Named Range
        nm.Delete
        DeleteCount = DeleteCount + 1
    End If
Skip:
  ‘Reset Error Handler
    On Error GoTo 0
  Next

    ‘Report Result
  If DeleteCount = 1 Then
    MsgBox «[1] errorant name was removed from this workbook.»
  Else
    MsgBox «[» & DeleteCount & «] errorant names were removed from this workbook.»
  End If

End Sub

Anything Missing From This Guide?

Let me know if you have any ideas for other useful VBA macros concerning Named Ranges. Or better yet, share with me your own macros and I can add them to the article for everyone else to see! I look forward to reading your comments below.

About The Author

Hey there! I’m Chris and I run TheSpreadsheetGuru website in my spare time. By day, I’m actually a finance professional who relies on Microsoft Excel quite heavily in the corporate world. I love taking the things I learn in the “real world” and sharing them with everyone here on this site so that you too can become a spreadsheet guru at your company.

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— Chris
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While working on Excel, you must have heard about named ranges in excel. Maybe from a friend, colleague or some online tutorial. Even I have mentioned it many times in my articles. In this article, we will learn about the Named Ranges in Excel and will explore every aspect of it.

What are Named Range in Excel?

Well, named ranges are nothing but some excel ranges that a tagged with some meaningful name. For example, if you have a cell say B1, contains the everyday target, you can name that cell as specifically “Target”. Now you can use “Target” to refer at A1 instead of writing B1.
In a nutshell, Named range is just naming of ranges.

How to name a range in Excel?

Define name manually:

To define a name to a range, you can use shortcut CTRL+F3. Or you can follow these steps.

- Go to Formula Tab
- Locate the Defined Names section and click Define Names. It will open Name Manger.

- Click on New.
- Type the Name.

Select the Scope (workbook or sheet)
Write a comment if you want.
In Refers to box write the reference or select a range using the mouse.
Hit OK. It is done.

Now you can refer to it by just typing its name.
There are some rules to follow while creating names. They are

Names should not start from digits or special characters other than underscore (_) and backslash().
Names can’t have spaces and any special characters except _ and .
The range should not be named as cell references. For example, A1, B1 or AZ100 etc. names are invalid.
You can’t name a range as “r” and “c” because they are reserved for row and columns references.
Two named ranges can’t have the same name in a workbook.
The same range can have multiple names.

Define name Automatically

Well, most of the time you will be working with a structured data table. They will have column and rows with column headings and row headings. And most of the time these names are meaningful to the data, and you’d like to name your range as these column headings. Excel provides a tool to name ranges using titles automatically. Follow these steps.

- The ranges that you want to name as their headings
- Press CTRL+SHIFT+F3, or Locate Defined Names section in Formula Tab, and click Create from Selection.

- The below option box will appear. I selected Top Row only since I want to name these range as the heading and don’t want to name rows.

Click OK.

Now each column is named as their heading. Whenever you typewill type a formula, these name will be listed in option to be used.

Naming Range Using Excel Tables

When we organise a data as a table in excel using CTRL + T, the column headings are automatically assigned as the name of the respective column. You should explore Excel Tables and their benefits.

How to See All Named Ranges?

Well, there will be times when you would like to see all available named ranges in the workbook. To see all name ranges Press CTRL+F3. Or you can go to Formula Tab > Name Manager. It will list all named ranges that are available on the workbook. You can Edit available named ranges, delete them, add new names.

One Range Multiple Names

Excel allows users to name the same range with different names. For example range A2:A10 can be named ‘Customers’ and ‘Clients’ both at the same time. Both names will refer to the same range A2:A10.
But you can’t have the same names for two different ranges. It eliminates the chance of ambiguity.

Get List of Named Ranges on Sheet

So if you want to have a list of named ranges and the ranges they are covering you can use this shortcut for pasting them on a place in a sheet.

- Select a cell where you want to get the list of named ranges.
- Press F3. This will open a Paste Name dialogue box.
- Click on paste list button.

The list will be pasted on the selected cell and onwards.

If you double click on the named ranges name in the paste name box, they will get written as formulas in the cell. Try it.

Update Named Ranges Manually

Well, when you insert a cell inside a named range, it updates automatically and expands it. But if you add data at the end of the table, you’ll need to update the named field. To update Named Ranges, follow these steps.

Press CTRL+F3, to open the name manager.
Click on the named range that you want to edit. Click on Edit.
In Refers to column type the range to which you want to expand and hit OK.

And It’s done. This is manual updating of named ranges. However, we can make it dynamic by using some formulas.

Update Named Ranges Dynamically

It is wise to make your named ranges dynamic so that you don’t have to edit them whenever your data overflows the predefined range.
I have covered it in a separate article called Dynamic Named ranges. You can learn and understand the benefits of it in detail here.

Deleting Named Ranges

When you delete some part of named range, it auto-adjusts its range. But when you delete whole name range the vanishes from the name list. Any formula, dependent on those ranges will show #REF error, or they will give incorrect output (counting functions).
For any reason, if you want to delete named ranges, follow these steps.

Press CTRL+F3. Name manager will open.
Select Named Ranges that you want to delete.
Click on Delete button or hit Delete button on the keyboard.

Caution: Before you delete the named ranges, make sure that no formulas are dependent on these names. If there is any, convert them to ranges first. Otherwise you’ll see #REF error.

Deleting Names with Errors

Excel provides a tool to remove names that have errors only. You don’t need to identify each of them by yourself. To delete names with errors, follow these steps:

- Open Name Manager (CTRL+F3).
- Click on Filter drop-down on the right- upper corner.
- Select “Name with Errors”

Select All and hit the delete button.

And they are gone. All the names with errors will be deleted from record immediately.

Named Ranges With Formulas

Best use of named ranges is experienced with formulas. The formulas get more flexible and readable with Named Ranges. Let’s see how.

Easy To Write Formulas

Now let’s say you have named a range as “Items”. Now the Items list you want to count “Pencils”. With name, it is easy to write this COUNTIF formula. Just write

=COUNTIF(Item, «Pencil»)

As soon as you write the opening parenthesis of formula, the list of available named ranges will appear. Without a name you would write a gi COUNTIF function of Excel with ranges, for which you may have to look at the range first then select the range or type it in the formula.

Excel Serves the Available Name Ranges.

The names of ranges are shown as suggestions when you type any letter after = sign. Same as excel shows the list of formulas. For example, if you type =u, each method and named range will be displayed starting with u, so that you can use them easily.

Make Constants using Named Ranges

So far, we learned about naming ranges, but you can actually name values too. For example, if your client name is Sunder Pichai than you can make a name “Client” and it refers to write “Sundar Pichai”. Now, whenever you write =Client in any cell, it will show Sundar Pichai.

Not only text, but you can also assign a number as constant to work with. For example, you define a target. Or the value of something that will not change.
Absolute and Relative Referencing with Named Ranges

The referencing with Named ranges in is very flexible. For example, if you write the name of a named range in relative cell, it will behave like a corresponding reference. See below image.

But when you use it with formulas, it will behave as absolute. Well, most of the time you’ll be using them with formulas, so you can say that they are by default Absolute, but actually they are flexible.

But we can make them relative too.

How to make Relative Named Ranges in Excel?

Let’s say if I want to name a range “Before” which will refer to cell left to wherever it is written. How do I do that? Follow these steps:

Press CTRL+F3
Click on New
Type “Befor” in ‘Name’ Section.
In ‘Refers to:’ section write address of cell in left. For example if you are in cell B1 then write “=A2” in ‘Refers to:’ section. Make sure that it does not have $ sign.

Now wherever you will write “Befor” in formula, it will refer to cell left to it.

Here, I used before in COLUMN function. The formula returns the column number of the left cell where it is written. To my suprise, A1 shows the column number of last column. Which means the sheet is circulare. I thought it will show an #REF error.

Give Name to Often Used Formulas?

Now this one is amazing. Many times you use same formula again and again in a worksheet. For example you may want to check if a name is in your customer list or not. And this need may occur many times. For this you’ll write same complex formula every time.

=IF(COUNTIF(Customer,I3),»In List»,»Not in List»)

How about, if you just type ‘=IsInCustomer’ in a cell and it will show you if the value in left cell is in customer list or not?

For example, I have prepared a table here. Now i just want to type “=IsInCustomer” in J5 and i would like to see if the value in I5 is in Customer list or Not. To do so follow these steps.

- Press CTRL+F3
- Click on New
- In Name write, ‘IsInCustomer”
- In ‘Refers To’ write your formula. =IF(COUNTIF(Customer,I5),»In List»,»Not in List»)

Hit OK button.

Now wherever you type ‘IsInCustomer’, It will check the value in left cell in Customer list.

This stop you from repeating your self again and again.

Apply Named Ranges to Formulas

So many times, we define names to our ranges after we have already written formulas based on ranges. For example I have Total Price as Cells =E2*F2. How can we change it to Units*Unit_Cost.

- Select the formulas.
- Go to formula tab. Click on Define Name drop down.

Click on Apply Names.
List of all named ranges will appear. Choose the right names and hit ok.

And the names are now applied. You can see it in formula bar.

Easy to Read Formulas with Named Ranges

As you’ve seen that named ranges make it easy to read the formulas. If I write =COUNTIF(“A2:A100”,B2), no one will understand what I am trying to count, until they see the data or someone explains it to them.

But if I write =COUNTIF(region,’east’), most users will immediately get it that we are counting occurrence of ‘east’ in region named range.

Portable Formulas

Named ranges make it very easy to copy and paste formulas without worrying about changing references. And you can take one formula from one workbook to another and it will work fine until and unless destination workbook have same names.

Fore example if you have a Formula =COUNTIF(region,east) in Distribution Table and you have another workbook say customers that also has a named range “Region”. Now if you copy this formula directly anywhere on that workbook it will show you correct information. The structure of data will not matter. It doesn’t matter where the hell is that column in your workbook. This will work correctly.

In the above image I have used exact same formula in two different file to count number or east occuring in region list. Now they are in different columns but since both of then are named as region it will work perfectly.

Navigate Easily in Workbook

It gets easier to navigating in workbook with named ranges. You just need to type name of the named in name box. Excel will take you to the range, doesn’t matter where are you in the workbook. Given that named range is of Workbook scope.
For example, if you are on sheet10 and you want want to got customer list, and you don’t know on which sheet it is. Just go to name box and type ‘customer’. You’ll be directed to the named range in fraction of a second.

It will reduce the effort of remembering the ranges.

Navigate Using Hyperlinks with Named Range

When your sheet is large and you often go from one point to another, you like to use hyperlinks in to navigate easily. Well Named Ranges can work perfectly with Hyperlinks. To add hyperlinks using named ranges follow these steps.

- Choose a cell where you want hyperlink
- Press CTRL+K or go to Insert Tab> HyperLink to open Insert Hyperlink dialogue box.

- Click on Place in this Document.
- Scroll Down to see available Named Ranges under Defined Names

Select the Named Range to insert a hyperlink to that range.

And its done. You have your hyperlink to your chosen named range. Using this you can create an index of named ranges that you can see and click to navigate to them directly. This will make your workbook really user friendly.

Named Range and Data Validation

Named ranges and Data Validation is kind of made for each other. Named ranges make data validation highly customisable. It gets a lot easier to add a validation from a list using named range. Let us see how..

- Go to Data tab
- Click on Data Validation
- Select List in ‘Allow:’ section
- In ‘Source:’ section, type “=Customer” (write whichever named range you have)

Hit OK

Now this cell will have names of customers who are part of Customer named range. Easy, isn’t it.

Dependent or Cascading Data Validation with Named Ranges

Now what if you want a cascading or dependent data validation. For example, if you you want a drop down list that has categories, Fruits and Vegetables. Now if you choose fruits than another drop down should show only fruits option and if you choose Vegetable then only vegetables.

This can be easily achieved by using Named ranges. Learn how.

Dependent Drop down using Named Range
Other Ways for Cascading Data Validation

No Data Validation With Names of Tabled Data

Although Excel Tables provide structured names but they can not be used with data validation and Conditional Formatting. I don’t know why excel doesn’t allow it.
But it doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. You can name ranges within a table and then use them for validation. Excel does not have any problem with it.

Scope of Named Ranges

So far we talked about named ranges that had Workbook scope. What? We we didn’t discussed it? Ok, so lets quickly understand what Scope of named ranges are.

What is Scope of a Name Range?

Well scope defines where a name range can be recognised. Any name can not be recognised out its scope. For example a name in workbook1 can not be recognised in different workbook. Excel provides two options for scope of named ranges Worksheet and Workbook.

How to define a Scope of Named Range?

When you create a new name range, you can see a ‘Scope:’ section. Click on the drop down and choose the scope for your name range. You can’t change scope once you have created a named range. So better do it before. By default, it is workbook.

Workbook Scope

This is the default scope for a named range. A name defined with scope of workbook can be used in whole workbook in which it is defined (not other workbooks).
All above examples had workbook scope.

Worksheet Scope

A name that is define with a worksheet scope can only be used on define worksheet. For example if I define ‘Total’ for a total cell with scope of sheet1. Then total will be recognised on sheet1 only. Other sheets will not recognise.

I Want a Excel Scope

Excel does not have Global or say Excel Scope. Actually, I would like to define some names that can be recognised in all workbooks on my system. If anyone knows how can we do this, let me know.

Editing Scope After Creating Names

You can’t. Excel does not allow you to edit scope of a named range once you have create. Since all named ranges on a sheet are by default Workbook Scoped, and you may want to change their scope to a sheet.
To do so, just make a copy of that sheet and excel will make each name on that sheet local to avoid ambiguity. You can now delete the original sheet if you like.

Cut Paste Name Range

When you cut and paste a named range from one destination to another, the reference changes to new location. For example if you have a named range “Customer” in A2:A10 and cut and paste it to B2:B10, then customer name will refer to new location B2:B10.

Related Article:

Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel

17 Amazing Features of Excel Tables

Popular Articles:

50 Excel Shortcuts to Increase Your Productivity

How to use the VLOOKUP Function in Excel

How to use the COUNTIF function in Excel

How to use the SUMIF Function in Excel

Источник

Need more help?

Need more help?

Named Ranges in Excel – An Introduction

Benefits of Creating Named Ranges in Excel

Use Names instead of Cell References

No Need to Go Back to the Dataset to Select Cells

Named Ranges Make Formulas Dynamic

How to Create Named Ranges in Excel

Method #1 – Using Define Name

Method #2: Using the Name Box

Method #3: Using Create From Selection Option

Naming Convention for Named Ranges in Excel

Too Many Named Ranges in Excel? Don’t Worry

Getting the Names of All the Named Ranges

Displaying the Matching Named Ranges

How to Edit Named Ranges in Excel

Useful Named Range Shortcuts (the Power of F3)

Creating Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel

How does Dynamic Named Ranges Work?

Overview on Excel VBA Named Range

How to Use Named Range in Excel VBA?

Example #1

Example #2

Things to Remember

Recommended Articles

The basics of named ranges in Excel

What is a named range?

Creating a named range is easy

Excel can create names automatically (ctrl + shift + F3)

Update named ranges in the Name Manager (Control + F3)

See all named ranges (control + F3)

Copy and paste all named ranges (F3)

See names directly on the worksheet

Names have rules

Named ranges in formulas

Named ranges are easy to use in formulas

Named ranges appear when typing a formula

Named ranges can work like constants

Named ranges are absolute by default

Named ranges can also be relative

Apply named ranges to existing formulas

Key benefits of named ranges

Named ranges make formulas easier to read

Named ranges make formulas portable and reusable

Named ranges can be used for navigation

Named ranges work well with hyperlinks

Named ranges for data validation

Dynamic Named Ranges

Dynamic named range with a Table

Dynamic named range with a formula

Table names in data validation

Deleting named ranges

Named ranges adjust when deleting and inserting cells

Delete names with Name Manager

Delete names with errors

Named ranges and Scope

The purpose of scope

Local scope

Global scope

Local scope

Managing named range scope

What are Named Ranges

Benefits of Creating Named Ranges in Excel

Rules for naming Named Ranges

How to Create Named Ranges in Excel

Method 1 – Creating Named Ranges from the Name Box

Method 2 – Creating Named Ranges from the ‘Define Name’ Option

How to Edit Named Ranges in Excel

How to Delete Named Ranges

How to Create Names from Cell Text

Named Ranges with Hyperlinks

How to Create an Excel Name for a Constant

How to Make a Named Formula

Named Ranges for Data Validation

See all Names Directly on the Worksheet

Scope of a Name

Local Worksheet Scope

Global Workbook scope

Creating Dynamic Named Ranges in Excel

Named Range Shortcuts