MVP #57: Named Range in Excel -- How To Use It and The Benefits

Excel lets you name a cell or a selection of cells. It’s very useful when you are building models in Excel as it makes the model formulas easy to write and troubleshoot. 

They are two ways to create a named range and I will start with the very quick and easy way.
Just select the cell or group of cells you want to name (set up as a named range). Go to the name box and type in the name, replacing the cell address in the name box.





We’ve successfully named all the Imo state revenue values as Imo. As benefit number 1, we can use it in a SUM formula (and any other formula) instead of highlighting the entire range.



Another advantage will become obvious as when I discuss Scenario Manager in a later post. It makes your work much more readable. =Revenue/Exchange_Rate makes more sense than =A5/Q4.

So what is the second way of creating a named range?
It is, in fact, the standard way. It’s also the only way that allows you to edit an already created named range.

Go to Formulas menu and click on the Name Manager.



You can create new named range, edit already created ones and delete a named range.