It can be hard to work with cells after cells. Luckily, Excel has a range name function which we can use to refer to a cell or a range of cells. I have briefly discussed this topic in my previous post on "Good habits of using Excel". I will now discuss more about the use of ranges.
Range names allow you to refer to a range of cells fast and accurately.
This is especially useful if you need to refer to the set of cells in formulas.
It will be even more useful if you need to refer to these sets of cells from another worksheet!
This is how you do it!
To create a Range Name in Excel:
Using Excel Range Name |
- Highlight the range of cells to be named (I like to just highlight the data that I want and name it using its title)
-Give it a name at the highlighted place
- Remember to press ENTER (Done)
-You can now refer to cells A2:A5 in this specific worksheet just by using "Sales" in your formulas in any other cells!
Another important part about using Range names is to know how to manage them.
You can do so by clicking the formula tab -> Name Manager -> Select the range names used
to do what you want. It is always good to delete any range names that are not in used so that you keep your workbook clean and lean. You are also less likely to be confused by the range names if there are too many:)
Excel Range Name Manager |