Set column name in excel

How to change the name of the column headers in Excel

In Microsoft Excel, the column headers are named A, B, C, and so on by default. Some users want to change the names of the column headers to something more meaningful. Unfortunately, Excel does not allow the header names to be changed.

The same applies to row names in Excel. You cannot change the row names, or numbering, but you can add your desired row names in column A for the corresponding rows.

Instead, if you want to have meaningful column header names, you can do the following.

1. Click in the first row of the worksheet and insert a new row above that first row.

• How to add or remove a cell, column, or row in Excel.

1. In the inserted row, enter the preferred name for each column.
2. To make the row of column names more noticeable, you could increase the text size, make the text bold, or add background color to the cells in that row.

After inserting the new row and adding column header names, if you want to hide the default column header names, follow the steps below to hide column and row headers.

1. In Microsoft Excel, click the File tab or the Office button in the upper-left corner.
2. In the left navigation pane, click Options.
3. In the Excel Options window, click the Advanced option in the left navigation pane.
4. Scroll down to the Display options for this worksheet section. Uncheck the box for Show row and column headers.

The column and row headers are now hidden. To display them again, re-check the box in step 4 above.

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Create and format tables

Create and format a table to visually group and analyze data.

Note: Excel tables shouldn’t be confused with the data tables that are part of a suite of What-If Analysis commands ( Forecast, on the Data tab). See Introduction to What-If Analysis for more information.

Try it!

Select a cell within your data.

Select Home > Format as Table.

Choose a style for your table.

In the Create Table dialog box, set your cell range.

Mark if your table has headers.

Insert a table in your spreadsheet. See Overview of Excel tables for more information.

Select a cell within your data.

Select Home > Format as Table.

Choose a style for your table.

In the Create Table dialog box, set your cell range.

Mark if your table has headers.

To add a blank table, select the cells you want included in the table and click Insert > Table.

To format existing data as a table by using the default table style, do this:

Select the cells containing the data.

Click Home > Table > Format as Table.

If you don’t check the My table has headers box, Excel for the web adds headers with default names like Column1 and Column2 above the data. To rename a default header, double-click it and type a new name.

Note: You can’t change the default table formatting in Excel for the web.

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Use the Name Manager in Excel

Use the Name Manager dialog box to work with all the defined names and table names in a workbook. For example, you may want to find names with errors, confirm the value and reference of a name, view or edit descriptive comments, or determine the scope. You can also sort and filter the list of names, and easily add, change, or delete names from one location.

To open the Name Manager dialog box, on the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Name Manager.

The Name Manager dialog box displays the following information about each name in a list box:

One of the following:

A defined name, which is indicated by a defined name icon.

A table name, which is indicated by a table name icon.

Note: A table name is the name for an Excel table, which is a collection of data about a particular subject stored in records (rows) and fields (columns). Excel creates a default Excel table name of Table1, Table2, and so on, each time you insert an Excel table. You can change a table’s name to make it more meaningful. For more information about Excel tables, see Using structured references with Excel tables.

The current value of the name, such as the results of a formula, a string constant, a cell range, an error, an array of values, or a placeholder if the formula cannot be evaluated. The following are representative examples:

«this is my string constant»

The current reference for the name. The following are representative examples:

A worksheet name, if the scope is the local worksheet level.

«Workbook,» if the scope is the global workbook level. This is the default option.

Additional information about the name up to 255 characters. The following are representative examples:

This value will expire on May 2, 2007.

Don’t delete! Critical name!

Based on the ISO certification exam numbers.

The reference for the selected name.

You can quickly edit the range of a name by modifying the details in the Refers to box. After making the change you can click Commit to save changes, or click Cancel to discard your changes.

You cannot use the Name Manager dialog box while you are changing the contents of a cell.

The Name Manager dialog box does not display names defined in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), or hidden names (the Visible property of the name is set to False).

On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Define Name.

In the New Name dialog box, in the Name box, type the name you want to use for your reference.

Note: Names can be up to 255 characters in length.

The scope automatically defaults to Workbook. To change the name’s scope, in the Scope drop-down list box, select the name of a worksheet.

Optionally, in the Comment box, enter a descriptive comment up to 255 characters.

In the Refers to box, do one of the following:

Click Collapse Dialog (which temporarily shrinks the dialog box), select the cells on the worksheet, and then click Expand Dialog .

To enter a constant, type = (equal sign) and then type the constant value.

To enter a formula, type = and then type the formula.

Be careful about using absolute or relative references in your formula. If you create the reference by clicking on the cell you want to refer to, Excel will create an absolute reference, such as «Sheet1!$B$1». If you type a reference, such as «B1», it is a relative reference. If your active cell is A1 when you define the name, then the reference to «B1» really means «the cell in the next column». If you use the defined name in a formula in a cell, the reference will be to the cell in the next column relative to where you enter the formula. For example, if you enter the formula in C10, the reference would be D10, and not B1.

To finish and return to the worksheet, click OK.

Note: To make the New Name dialog box wider or longer, click and drag the grip handle at the bottom.

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MS Excel 2016: How to Change Column Headings from Numbers to Letters

This Excel tutorial explains how to change column headings from numbers (1, 2, 3, 4) back to letters (A, B, C, D) in Excel 2016 (with screenshots and step-by-step instructions).

See solution in other versions of Excel :

Question: In Microsoft Excel 2016, my Excel spreadsheet has numbers for both rows and columns. How do I change the column headings back to letters such as A, B, C, D?

Answer: Traditionally, column headings are represented by letters such as A, B, C, D. If your spreadsheet shows the columns as numbers, you can change the headings back to letters with a few easy steps.

In the example below, the column headings are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 instead of the traditional A, B, C, D values that you normally see in Excel. When the column headings are numeric values, R1C1 reference style is being displayed in the spreadsheet.

To change the column headings to letters, select the File tab in the toolbar at the top of the screen and then click on Options at the bottom of the menu.

When the Excel Options window appears, click on the Formulas option on the left. Then uncheck the option called «R1C1 reference style» and click on the OK button.

Now when you return to your spreadsheet, the column headings should be letters (A, B, C, D) instead of numbers (1, 2, 3, 4).

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Columns and rows are labeled numerically in Excel

Symptoms

Your column labels are numeric rather than alphabetic. For example, instead of seeing A, B, and C at the top of your worksheet columns, you see 1, 2, 3, and so on.

Cause

This behavior occurs when the R1C1 reference style check box is selected in the Options dialog box.

Resolution

To change this behavior, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Excel.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
3. Click the Formulas tab.
4. Under Working with formulas, click to clear the R1C1 reference style check box (upper-left corner), and then click OK.

If you select the R1C1 reference style check box, Excel changes the reference style of both row and column headings, and cell references from the A1 style to the R1C1 style.

More information

A1 Reference Style vs. R1C1 Reference Style

The A1 Reference Style

By default, Excel uses the A1 reference style, which refers to columns as letters (A through IV, for a total of 256 columns), and refers to rows as numbers (1 through 65,536). These letters and numbers are called row and column headings. To refer to a cell, type the column letter followed by the row number. For example, D50 refers to the cell at the intersection of column D and row 50. To refer to a range of cells, type the reference for the cell that is in the upper-left corner of the range, type a colon (:), and then type the reference to the cell that is in the lower-right corner of the range.

The R1C1 Reference Style

Excel can also use the R1C1 reference style, in which both the rows and the columns on the worksheet are numbered. The R1C1 reference style is useful if you want to compute row and column positions in macros. In the R1C1 style, Excel indicates the location of a cell with an «R» followed by a row number and a «C» followed by a column number.

References

For more information about this topic, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type about cell and range references in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

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While many people will use a header row in their spreadsheets to identify the information that is contained within a column, that might not be useful for what you need to do.

Another option that you have involves learning how to name a column in Excel.

This gives you some additional flexibility with cell references and formulas, which may be more optimal for the way that you use Excel.

Our tutorial below will show you how to name columns in Excel so that you can start taking advantage of the additional features this enables.

1. Open your spreadsheet.
2. Click the column letter to rename.
3. Click in the Name field next to the formula bar.
4. Delete the current name.
5. Enter the new name, then press Enter.

Our article continues below with additional information on naming columns in Excel for office 365, including pictures of these steps.

When you need to reference a specific cell in Microsoft Excel it is common for you to use row numbers and column letters. These are shown at the left side and top of the spreadsheet, respectively, and provide an easy way to locate cells for formulas.

But you may be looking for a way to create custom column names in Excel if you don’t want to use the default column headings.

This can be useful when you are working with a lot of similar data and are running into problems with properly identifying columns. It can also be a useful way to may writing formulas easier because you can just enter your custom name into the formula rather than going back to see which column contains which data.

Fortunately, it is possible for you to give a column a name in Excel if you would like to be able to reference the column by that name rather than the standard column letters.

How to Rename a Column in Excel (Guide with Pictures)

the steps in this article were performed in the desktop version of the Microsoft Excel for Office 365 application. However, these steps will also work in most other versions of Excel.

Now that you know how to name a column in Excel you can take advantage of this when you are working on spreadsheets that need column names.

The next section discusses editing a column header in Excel.

How to Change a Column Header in the Name Box Dropdown List in Microsoft Excel

The steps above walk you through the process of how you create names for single columns in an Excel spreadsheet. Once you have elected to give a new, custom name rather than the default Excel names for some of your columns, then those custom names are going to appear in a dropdown list within the Name field.

You can quickly select a column and choose to rename one of these column headers by simply clicking inside that Name field and choosing the column name. That will select that column. You can then click inside the Name field again, delete the current name, enter a new name, then press Enter.

Our guide continues below with more information, such as what to do if you are seeing an error when trying to name columns in Excel.

More Information on How to Name Columns in Excel

If the row numbers and columns aren’t visible in Microsoft Excel then they have probably been hidden. You can display them by selecting the View tab at the top of the window, then checking the box next to Headings in the Show group of the ribbon.

If you are having trouble giving your column a name, then it may be because you are attempting to include a space. In my example above I am giving my column the name “LastName” but I would get an error if I tried to give it a name of “Last Name.”

Once a column is renamed you can do stuff like =SUM(LastName) to quickly add all of the values in that column.

One helpful thing that you can do when you have renamed columns in Excel is to quickly select an entire column by its name. if you click the arrow in the Name field you will see a dropdown list with all of your custom column names. If you select one of those names it will automatically highlight that entire column.

These column names are a little different than creating titles in the first row of each column. Traditionally that is used as a simple way to identify what type of data is in a column. It also makes it very easy to use the “Print Titles” button on the Page Layout tab so that you can repeat the top row of your spreadsheet on every page.

it is possible for you to use the first row as a title row in Microsoft Excel while still creating custom column names using the steps outlined in the tutorial above.

One additional similar action you can take is to create an Excel named range that consists of a few cells. You can use your mouse to select the cells to include in that range, then click inside the Name field, delete the current name, enter the new one, then press Enter on the keyboard. When you start creating more and more named ranges in your spreadsheet you can really make selections quickly by clicking the Name Manager to cycle through all of your defined names group values.

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Name a Column in Excel