Excel naming cells formulas

Name a cell

1. Select a cell.

2. In the Name Box, type a name.

   

3. Press Enter.

Define names from a selected range

1. Select the range you want to name, including the row or column labels.

2. Select Formulas > Create from Selection.

3. In the Create Names from Selection dialog box, designate the location that contains the labels by selecting the Top row,Left column, Bottom row, or Right column check box.

4. Select OK.

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

Use names in formulas

1. Select a cell and enter a formula.

2. Place the cursor where you want to use the name in that formula.

3. Type the first letter of the name, and select the name from the list that appears.

   Or, select Formulas > Use in Formula and select the name you want to use.

4. Press Enter.

Manage names in your workbook with Name Manager

1. On the Ribbon, go to Formulas > Defined Names > Name Manager. You can then create, edit, delete, and find all the names used in the workbook.

In Excel for the web, you can use the named ranges you’ve defined in Excel for Windows or Mac. Select a name from the Name Box to go to the range’s location, or use the Named Range in a formula.

For now, creating a new Named Range in Excel for the web is not available.

1. Why should you name cells?

You can assign a name to a cell or a cell range. This introduces a number of benefits:

2. Naming cells using the Name box

1.  Select the cell(s) to be named.

2.  Click in the middle of the Name Box, not the drop-down arrow. The cell reference will now be highlighted.

3.  Overtype the cell reference with a name. Spaces are not allowed but underscores ( _ ) are.

4.  Press Enter to register the name. If you forget to press Enter, the name will not be registered, and you won’t be able to use it.

3. Naming cells using the Name Manager

To name a cell using the Name Manager:

2.  Click New.

3.  In the New Name dialog, type a name (remember, no spaces but underscores are allowed).

4.  Place the cursor in the Refers to box, then using the mouse, select the cell(s) to be named.

5.  Add a comment if you want. Comments are useful in reminding you what the named cell(s) are used for and where they fit in the big picture.

6.  Click Ok to create the Name.

4. How to create a constant

1.  Click the Name Manager icon on the Formulas ribbon.

2.  Type a name

Constants are not listed in the Name Box or the Go To box but do appear in the Paste Name dialog box when you are constructing a formula.

5. How to use a named cell in a formula

6. Using named cells for navigation

There are 2 ways to use named cell(s) to navigate to a different location in the same workbook:

TECHNIQUE 1:

1.  Click the drop-down arrow on the Name Box.

2.  Select a name from the list. This will take you directly to the sheet and cell.

TECHNIQUE 2:

1.  Press F5 or Ctrl G to display the Go To dialog.

2.  Select a name from the list.

3.  Click Ok

7. Changing the cell(s) that a name refers to

To change the cell reference or cell range that a name refers to

1.  Select the Name Manager icon on the Formulas ribbon.

2.  Highlight the name you wish to change the details for.

3.  Click the Edit button.

4.  Either place the cursor in the Refers To box and carefully type your changes or delete the entire current entry and reselect from the worksheet. The second method is often easier, because when you place the cursor in the box, then use the cursor keys, a cell reference is placed in the middle of your existing entry.

5.  Click Ok and then Close.

8. Removing a name from a cell

To un-name a cell (remove the name):

1.  Select the Name Manager icon on the Formulas ribbon.

2.  Highlight the name.

3.  Click the Delete button.

9. Using table headings for naming cell ranges

To use existing column headings or row labels as the names for new named ranges:

1.  Select the data, including the headings.

2.  Click Create from Selection on the Formulas ribbon.

3.  Specify which parts of the selected range you wish to use as names. This is normally the top row or the left column or both.

4.  Click Ok

10. Applying new names to existing formulas

If you have created formulas which refer to cell(s) that have since been named, you can apply the names automatically to your existing formulas.

1.  Select the formula cell(s) that currently refer to a cell reference or cell range that has since been named.

2.  Click the drop-down arrow on the Define Name button on the Formulas ribbon.

3.  Choose Apply Names. Excel selects any relevant cell names. Do not change these.

4.  Click Ok

5.  Check one of the original formulas and note that the name has replaced the original cell/range.

11. Displaying a summary of named cells

To display a list of named cells, ranges, constants and formulas as a printable reference:

1.  Select a blank area of the worksheet where the list will be inserted.

2.  Click the drop-down arrow on the Use in Formula button (Formulas ribbon). The Paste Names dialog box is displayed.

3.  Click Paste List. Each name is pasted onto the worksheet with its associated cell, range, constant or formula.

12. Key Takeaways

In this tutorial I am going to introduce the idea of Named Cells. A Named Cell is a cell which you have given a custom name to.

This cell can then be referred to by its new custom name within and Formula or Function. For example, I have a table of orders and at the bottom are my totals:

I could use the cell references C12 and B12 calculate the average OrderTotal. Or I could Name those cells beforehand and use the Names as my reference. To Name a cell, select a cell then navigate to the Name Box. (Highlighted by the red box below):

You can then edit the Name of the cell. Just hit enter to save the Name. (C12 is now named Total)

This also works with a range of cells. Just select the range then edit the name in the Name Box:

It is important to note that certain symbols will not be permitted including spaces. In the above example I used an underscore (_) instead of a space. This window will pop-up if the Name you entered is invalid.

Once you have entered an acceptable name for the cell, this can then be used in formulas:

 

In the above example I Named cell B12 to No.Orders and C12 to Total. I then used these new Cell Names as a reference in my average formula. This also works with Functions and Named cell ranges if applicable to the Formula/Function. I gave the range C2:C11 the Name of OrderTotals. I then put this name into a Sum Function:

Manage Lots of Names in the Workbook

As you create more and more Named cells you may lose track of where they are. This is when the Name Manager tool comes in. If you go to the Formulas tab of the Excel ribbon there is a Defined Names section:

If you click the Name Manager button the following window opens:

This helps you keep track of all the Named cells/ranges within your current workbook. You can see all the Names you have created as well as the cells/ranges they refer to. Double click on a Name to edit it or alternatively select the Name then click the Edit button.

You can also delete a Name by selecting it then click the Delete button.

More Complex Names in Excel

You can also define Names and use them in formulae by using the Define Name and Use in Formula buttons on the Formula Tab. Define Name is also available when you select a range of cells and right-click. This opens a New Name pop-up similar to the Edit Name pop-up.

For this new Name I used a constant for the value instead of a cell reference. Formulas/Functions can also be entered as a reference for a Name:

You can also alter the scope of your Names. In the above example I have kept the scope of the TotalTax Name to Sheet1. This means that the TotalTax Name can only be accessed/referred to on Sheet1. If you go to Sheet2 and try to use the TotalTax Name it will not be recognized. If the scope of the Name had been set to Workbook then the TotalTax Name would have been accessible from anywhere in the Workbook.

You can also enter a message in the Comment box above and that will display when you go to enter the Name into a formula or function in Excel.

Dont forget to download the file for this tutorial so you can follow along and see how everything works.

Similar Content on TeachExcel

Subscribe for Weekly Tutorials

BONUS: subscribe now to download our Top Tutorials Ebook!

In this article, we will learn How to use Names in a Formula in Excel.

Scenario :

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

Named Ranges in Excel

Formulas -> Name Manager -> Define Name

Well, named ranges are nothing but some excel ranges that are given some meaningful name. For example if you have a cell say B1, containing everyday targets, 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.

Now you can refer to it by just typing its name.

There are some rules to follow while creating names. Here are some.

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

Well most of the time you will be working with structured data tables. 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 automatically name ranges using headings. Follow these steps.

Now each column is named as their heading. Whenever you type a formula, these names will be listed as options which can be accessed.

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

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. This 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 same time. Both names will refer to the same range A2:A10.

But you can’t have the same names for two different ranges. This is good. This 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 in place in a sheet.

• Select a cell where you want to get a list of named ranges.
• Press F3. This will open a paste list dialogue box.
• Click on the paste list button.
• 
• The list will be pasted on selected cells 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 range. 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 the sum part of the named range, it auto adjusts its range. But when you delete the whole name range 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, just follow these steps.

• Press CTRL+F3. Name manager will open.
• Select Named Ranges that you want to delete.
• Click on the Delete button or hit Delete button on 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 tools to delete 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 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 are explored with formulas. The Formulas get really 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 names 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 name you would write a give a range to COUNTIF function of Excel, for which you may have to look at the range first then select the range or type it in formula.

Excel Serves the Available Name Ranges.

The named ranges are shown as suggestions when you type any letter. As excel shows the list of formulas. For example if you type =u, each formula 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 then you  can make a name “Client” and it refers to write “Sundar Pichai”. Now whenever you will write =Client in any cell it will show Sundar Pichai.

Not only text, but you can also assign numbers 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 a relative cell to the named range, it will behave like a relative 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 “Befor” 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 the ‘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 a $ sign.

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

Here, I used it before in the 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 the 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 the 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 the left cell is in the 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 the 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 the OK button.

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

This stops you from repeating yourself 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 the 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 the 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 occurrences of ‘east’ in the 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 the destination workbook has the same name.

For example if you have a Formula =COUNTIF(region,east) in the 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 the exact same formula in two different files to count the number or east occuring in the region list. Now they are in different columns but since both of them are named as regions it will work perfectly.

Navigate Easily in Workbook

It gets easier to navigate in a workbook with named ranges. You just need to type the name of the name in the name box. Excel will take you to the range, doesn’t matter where you are in the workbook. Given that named range is of Workbook scope.

For example, if you are on  sheet10 and you want to get a 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 to navigate easily. Well Named Ranges can work perfectly with Hyperlinks. To add hyperlinks using named ranges follow these steps.

And it’s 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 the 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 want a drop down list that has categories, Fruits and Vegetables. Now if you choose fruits then another dropdown 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

Hope this article about How to use Names in a Formula in Excel is explanatory. Find more articles on naming ranges and related Excel formulas here. If you liked our blogs, share it with your friends on Facebook. And also you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We would love to hear from you, do let us know how we can improve, complement or innovate our work and make it better for you. Write to us at info@exceltip.com.

Related Articles :

The Name Box in Excel : Excel Name Box is nothing but a small display area on top left of excel sheet that shows the name of active cell or ranges in excel. You can rename a cell or array for references.

How to Get Sheet name of worksheet in Excel : CELL Function in Excel gets you the information regarding any worksheet like col, contents, filename, ..etc. Learn how to get the sheet name using the CELL function here.

How To Get Sequential Row Number in Excel : Sometimes we need to get a sequential row number in a table, it can be for a serial number or anything else. In this article, we will learn how to number rows in excel from the start of data.

Increment a number in a text string in excel : If you have a large list of items and you need to increase the last number of the text of the old text in excel, you will need help from the two TEXT and RIGHT functions.

Popular Articles :

How to use the IF Function in Excel : The IF statement in Excel checks the condition and returns a specific value if the condition is TRUE or returns another specific value if FALSE.

How to use the VLOOKUP Function in Excel : This is one of the most used and popular functions of excel that is used to lookup value from different ranges and sheets.

How to use the SUMIF Function in Excel : This is another dashboard essential function. This helps you sum up values on specific conditions.

How to use the COUNTIF Function in Excel : Count values with conditions using this amazing function. You don’t need to filter your data to count specific values. Countif function is essential to prepare your dashboard.

Excel is so much more than a place to track who isn’t … I mean is … coming to a party that I throw.

It pretty much is a full-blown programming language upon itself. The more I mess around with it, the more I’m amazed with what it can do.

Here’s something I just learned that kinda blew my mind. You can give individual (or a range) of cells a name. Like naming a variable. And then refer to that name in various formulas.

Think about how useful that can be — when you need to have a formula that calculates the sum of the cells that hold the values for the cost of eggs, milk, and bread — you could have:

That’ll do the trick — but you gotta hope that A2, B2, and C2 refer to the correct cells. I mean by look at it who knows what they refer to.

But … but … what if you could name those cells, so in the formula you would know? It would be super apparent and there would never be a question again.

You can! Because Excel is amazing. And here’s how.

1. Highlight the cell you want to name
2. Go to the formulas menu / tab / ribbon (or whatever the proper nomenclature is).
3. Click on Define Name
4. A modal window will show & it’ll guess what you want to name the cell. The cell (or range of cells) that should be named. And will show you other cells that have been named. Go ahead and set the values (most likely just accepting the defaults).

That’s it!

Then when you go back to your formula & start typing — Excel will even prompt you with the name of the cell — like Intellisense would.

(And if you’re more of a click-to-select-a-cell person than a typer when doing formulas — Excel still will use the name!)

And the formula would look something like this:

And what’s nice is that you can refer to those named cells on any sheet — not just the one they were defined on — super easy. No more trying to remember what the proper syntax is for cross-sheet cell reference.

What about cell ranges?

Pretty much same as before. Select the range you want to name — give it a name.

And then when you reference it in a formula — reference it as before.

Maybe everybody already knows about this — but when I found out that I could clean up my formulas and make them easier to understand … so amazing!

Subscribe to Code Mill Matt

Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox.