What is data range in excel

A range is a group or block of cells in a worksheet that are selected or highlighted. Also, a range can be a group or block of cell references that are entered as an argument for a function, used to create a graph, or used to bookmark data.

What do you put for data range in Excel?

To select a data range, use the Go To feature as follows:

1. Click any cell in the data range.
2. Press [F5].
3. In the Go To dialog, click the Special button in the bottom-left corner.
4. In the resulting dialog, click the Current Region option.
5. Click OK, and Excel will select the current data range (the current region).

How do you define data range?

In statistics, the range of a set of data is the difference between the largest and smallest values.

What is an example of a range in Excel?

A group of cells is known as a cell range. Rather than a single cell address, you will refer to a cell range using the cell addresses of the first and last cells in the cell range, separated by a colon. For example, a cell range that included cells A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 would be written as A1:A5.

How do you write a data range?

Name a range

1. Open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets.
2. Select the cells you want to name.
3. Click Data. Named ranges. A menu will open on the right.
4. Type the range name you want.
5. To change the range, click Spreadsheet .
6. Select a range in the spreadsheet or type the new range into the text box, then click Ok.
7. Click Done.

What is cell range explain with example?

When referring to a spreadsheet, the range or cell range is a group of cells within a row or column. For example, in the formula =sum(A1:A10), the cells in column A1 through A10 are the range of cells that are added together.For example, in the formula =sum(A1+B2+C3), the cells A1, B2, and C3 are added together.

Why is the range important?

How useful is the range? The range generally gives you a good indicator of variability when you have a distribution without extreme values. When paired with measures of central tendency, the range can tell you about the span of the distribution. But the range can be misleading when you have outliers in your data set.

What are the uses of range?

Range is typically used to characterize data spread. However, since it uses only two observations from the data, it is a poor measure of data dispersion, except when the sample size is large. Note that the range of Examples 1 and 2 earlier are both equal to 4.

Where is define range option?

Range option is available under d) Data menu.

Cell Range: A range is a group of contiguous cell, which form the shape of a rectangle. It can be group of two cell or as big as entire work sheet . For cell C1:C10 Indicates the range . Cell Reference And its Types:- The cell address that we use in the Formula is known as the cell reference.

How do you show range in Excel?

Find named ranges

1. The Go to popup window shows named ranges on every worksheet in your workbook.
2. To go to a range of unnamed cells, press Ctrl+G, enter the range in the Reference box, and then press Enter (or click OK).

What is range example?

The Range is the difference between the lowest and highest values. Example: In {4, 6, 9, 3, 7} the lowest value is 3, and the highest is 9. So the range is 9 − 3 = 6. It is that simple!

What is maximum and minimum range?

The largest value in a data set is often called the maximum (or max for short), and the smallest value is called the minimum (or min). The difference between the maximum and minimum value is sometimes called the range and is calculated by subtracting the smallest value from the largest value.

What are the advantages of range in statistics?

The range is the difference between the largest and the smallest observation in the data. The prime advantage of this measure of dispersion is that it is easy to calculate. On the other hand, it has lot of disadvantages. It is very sensitive to outliers and does not use all the observations in a data set.

What is a data range Google Sheets?

The “data range” is the set of cells you want to include in your chart. On your computer, open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets.Select the cells you want to include in your chart. Optional: To add more data to the chart, click Add another range. Then, select the cells you want to add.

What is the synonym of range?

Some common synonyms of range are compass, gamut, orbit, scope, and sweep. While all these words mean “the extent that lies within the powers of something (as to cover or control),” range is a general term indicating the extent of one’s perception or the extent of powers, capacities, or possibilities.

Which option is used to name a range of cell?

Using a named range
To use a named cell or range, click the down arrow in the Name box at the left end of the Formula bar. Select the range name you want to access, and Excel highlights the named cells. You can select a range name in the Name box to quickly locate an area of a worksheet.

What is range in spreadsheet?

A range is a group or block of cells in a worksheet that are selected or highlighted. Also, a range can be a group or block of cell references that are entered as an argument for a function, used to create a graph, or used to bookmark data.

What is cell range Class 9?

A cell range in Ms Excel is a collection of chosen cells. It can be referred to in a formula. This is defined in a spreadsheet with the reference of the upper-left cell as the minimum value of the range and the reference of the lower-right cell as the maximum value of the range.

What is name box?

Name Box is a tool that shows the active cell address. For example, if you have selected the cell C1, this name box will show the active cell address as C1.

How do you find the range?

The range is the simplest measurement of the difference between values in a data set. To find the range, simply subtract the lowest value from the greatest value, ignoring the others.

A range is a group or block of cells in a worksheet that are selected or highlighted. Also, a range can be a group or block of cell references that are entered as an argument for a function, used to create a graph, or used to bookmark data.

Contiguous and Non-Contiguous Ranges

A contiguous range of cells is a group of highlighted cells that are adjacent to each other, such as the range C1 to C5 shown in the image above.

A non-contiguous range consists of two or more separate blocks of cells. These blocks can be separated by rows or columns as shown by the ranges A1 to A5 and C1 to C5.

Range Names

Ranges are so important in Excel and Google Spreadsheets that names can be given to specific ranges to make them easier to work with and reuse when referencing them in charts and formulas.

Select a Range in a Worksheet

When cells have been selected, they are surrounded by an outline or border. By default, this outline or border surrounds only one cell in a worksheet at a time, which is known as the active cell. Changes to a worksheet, such as data editing or formatting, affect the active cell.

When a range of more than one cell is selected, changes to the worksheet, with certain exceptions such as data entry and editing, affect all cells in the selected range.

There a number of ways to select a range in a worksheet. These include using the mouse, the keyboard, the name box, or a combination of the three.

To create a range consisting of adjacent cells, drag with the mouse or use a combination of the Shift and four arrow keys on the keyboard. To create ranges consisting of non-adjacent cells, use the mouse and keyboard or just the keyboard.

Select a Range for Use in a Formula or Chart

When entering a range of cell references as an argument for a function or when creating a chart, in addition to typing in the range manually, the range can also be selected using pointing.

Ranges are identified by the cell references or addresses of the cells in the upper left and lower right corners of the range. These two references are separated by a colon. The colon tells Excel to include all the cells between these start and endpoints.

Range vs. Array

At times the terms range and array seem to be used interchangeably for Excel and Google Sheets since both terms are related to the use of multiple cells in a workbook or file.

To be precise, the difference is because a range refers to the selection or identification of multiple cells (such as A1:A5) and an array refers to the values located in those cells (such as {1;2;5;4;3}).

Some functions, such as SUMPRODUCT and INDEX, take arrays as arguments. Other functions, such as SUMIF and COUNTIF, accept only ranges for arguments.

That’s not to say that a range of cell references cannot be entered as arguments for SUMPRODUCT and INDEX. These functions extract the values from the range and translate them into an array.

For example, the following formulas both return a result of 69 as shown in cells E1 and E2 in the image.

=SUMPRODUCT(A1:A5,C1:C5)
=SUMPRODUCT({1;2;5;4;3},{1;4;8;2;4})

On the other hand, SUMIF and COUNTIF do not accept arrays as arguments. So, while the formula below returns an answer of 3 (see cell E3 in the image), the same formula with an array would not be accepted.

COUNTIF(A1:A5,"<4")

As a result, the program displays a message box listing possible problems and corrections.

Thanks for letting us know!

You are here

There is a good amount of confusion around the terms ‘Table’ and ‘Range’, especially among new Excel users.

You will find many tutorials use the terms interchangeably too.

But the two terms have some basic differences that need to be identified.

In this tutorial, we will explain what the terms Table and Range / Named range mean, how to distinguish between them, as well as how you can convert from one form to the other in Excel.

Any group of selected cells can be considered as an Excel range.

A range of cells is defined by the reference of the cell that is at the upper left corner and the one at the lower right corner.

For example, the range selected in the image below consists of cells A1 to C7, denoted as A1:C7.

An Excel range does not require cells to be contiguous. You can also add cells to a range that are away from each other.

What is an Excel Named Range?

A named range is simply a range of cells with a name.

The main purpose of using named ranges is to make references to a group of cells more intuitive.

For example, if the name of the following selected range is “Sales”, then you can simply refer to this range by name in formulas (rather than using cell references like B2:B7):

To convert a range of cells to a named range, all you need to do is select the range, type the name into the Name Box and press the return key.

You can identify a named range by selecting the range of cells.

If you see a name, instead of a cell reference in the name box, then the range of cells belongs to a Named range.

What is an Excel Table?

An Excel Table is a dynamic range of cells that are pre-formatted and organized.

A table comes with some additional features such as data aggregation, automatic updates, data styling, etc.

You can say that an Excel table is basically an Excel range, but with some added functionality.

Like named ranges, Excel tables help group a set of related cells together, with a given name.

However, they also help users clearly see the grouping through some extra styling.

As Excel is releasing new data analysis features such as Power Query, Power Pivot, and Power BI, Excel Table has become even more important. Since it’s more structured, most of these new functionalities will require you to convert your data/range into an Excel Table.

How to Identify a Table in Excel?

You can easily identify a table in Excel thanks to its distinguishable features:

• You will find filter arrows next to each column header.

• Column headings remain frozen even as you scroll down the table rows.
• The table is enclosed in a distinguishable box.

• You will also find the table styled differently from the rest of the worksheet. For example you might find rows of the table styled in alternating colors for easy viewing.
• When you click on the table (or select any cell within the table), you should see a Design tab in the main menu.

• When you click on the Design tab, you should see the name of the table on the left side of the menu ribbon.

What’s the Difference Between an Excel Table and Range?

From the first glance, it is quite easy to differentiate between a table and a range.

Not only do they look different, they are also quite different in the amount of functionality they offer.

Here are some of the differences between an Excel Table and Range:

• Cells in an Excel table need to exist as a contiguous collection of cells. Cells in a range, however, don’t necessarily need to be contiguous.
• Every column in an Excel table must have a heading (even if you choose to turn the heading row of the table off). Named ranges, on the other hand, have no such compulsion.
• Each column header (if displayed) includes filter arrows by default. These let you filter or sort the table as required. To filter or sort a range, you need to explicitly turn the filter on.
• New rows added to the table remain a part of the table. However, new rows added to a range or are not implicitly part of the original range.
• In tables, you can easily add aggregation functions (like sum, average, etc.) for each column without the need to write any formulas. With ranges, you need to explicitly add whatever formulas you need to apply.

• In order to make formulas easier to read, cells in a table can be referenced using a shorthand (also known as a structured reference). This means that instead of specifying cell references in a formula (as in ranges), you can use a shorthand as follows:

=[@Qty]*[@Sales]

• Moreover, in a table, typing the formula for one row is enough. The formula gets automatically copied to the rest of the rows in the table. In a range or named range, however, you need to use the fill handle to copy a formula down to other rows in a column.
• Adding a new row to the bottom of a table automatically copies formulae to the new row. With ranges, however, you need to use the fill handle to copy the formula every time you insert a new row.
• Pivot tables and charts that are based on a table get automatically updated with the table. This is not the case with cell ranges.

How to Convert a Range to a Table

Converting an Excel range to a table is really easy.

Let’s say you have the following range of cells and you want to convert it to a table:

Here are the steps that you need to follow to convert the range into a table:

1. Select the range or click on any cell in your range.
2. From the Home tab, click on ‘Format as Table’ (under the Styles group).

1. You should now see a dropdown menu with a number of styling options. Select the styling option that you want to apply to your table. We selected the option highlighted below:

1. This will open the ‘Format as Table’ dialog box.
2. Make sure that the range displayed under ‘where is the data for your table’ is correct.

1. You should see a dashed box around the cells that will be part of your table.

1. If your dataset has headers, ensure that the checkbox next to ‘My table has headers’ is checked.

1. Click OK.

Here’s what your table should look like if you’ve followed the above steps:

Note: Alternatively, you could use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+T in place of steps 2 and 3.

How to Convert a Table to Range

It is also possible to reverse the conversion, in other words, convert a table back into a range of cells. Here are the steps that you need to follow:

1. Select any cell in your table.
2. You should see a new ribbon titled ‘Table Tools’ in the main menu. Select the Design tab under this menu.

1. In the Tools group, select the ‘Convert to Range’ button.

1. You will be asked to confirm if you want to convert the table to a normal range. Click Yes.

Alternatively, you could simply right-click on the table and select Table->Convert to Range from the context menu that appears.

You will now find that the table features (like filter arrows and structured references in all the formulas) are no longer there since it’s now just a regular range of cells. Structured references have all turned back into regular cell references.

In this tutorial, we explained with examples how ranges and named ranges differ from tables.

To conclude, a table can be considered as a named range, but with some added functionality, like styling, easy aggregations, structured references, and more.

We hope we have been successful in clearing any confusion you might have had about ranges, named ranges, and tables.

Other Excel Tutorials you may also like:

• How to Save an Excel Table as Image
• How to Add a Total Row in Excel Table
• How to Find Range in Excel
• SUMPRODUCT vs SUMIFS Function in Excel
• How to Paste in a Filtered Column Skipping the Hidden Cells
• How to Group by Months in Excel Pivot Table?
• How to Remove Table Formatting in Excel?
• How to Rename a Table in Excel?
• Row vs Column in Excel – What’s the Difference?