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Named ranges

Editing & references

Name a cell or range so formulas read like English.

Difficulty

Good
Practice file

1What it does

Give a cell or range a name and you can reference it by that name anywhere. =SUMIFS(Amount, Account, "Revenue") beats =SUMIFS(C2:C500, A2:A500, "Revenue") — easier to read, and it can't drift to the wrong column when the sheet changes.

2The shortcut

  1. 1Select the range you want to name.
  2. 2Click the Name Box (left of the formula bar) and type a name — no spaces.
  3. 3Press Enter; now use that name in any formula. (Manage them all with Ctrl + F3.)

3Before → after

Press the shortcut to play it on a sample sheet.

Before — raw cell ranges

fx=SUMIFS(C2:C500, A2:A500, "Revenue")

Works, but you have to decode which column is which — and it breaks if a column moves.

4When you use it

  • Make long formulas readable at a glance.
  • Reference an assumption cell by name across a whole model.
  • Avoid hard-coded ranges that break when columns move.

5Related functions

  • SUMIFS — see its own page, with a live demo.

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