A fixed or dynamically defined range of cells that has been assigned a name by a user. Named ranges are used in Microsoft Excel and similar spreadsheet applications. Named ranges may be referred to in formulas or in code and are useful for convenient reference and improved formula readability.
When to Apply namedranges Tag:
Questions that specifically concern the creation, definition, or application of named ranges in a spreadsheet application should be applied namedranges. This tag should be applied in addition to the tag for the specific spreadsheet application being used, such as microsoft-excel.
About Named Ranges:
In Microsoft Excel, named ranges may be defined in several ways. The Name Box, located to the left of the formula bar, may be used to apply a name to the selected range. The Name Manager (accessible on the Formulas ribbon or by pressing Ctrl+F3) may be used to define a named range as well.
Names defined in the Name Manager may be defined statically, i.e., as an address, such as
=Sheet1!A1:C3
Or dynamically, i.e., as a formula, such as
=INDIRECT("Sheet1!A1:A"&COUNTA(Sheet1!A:A))
Dynamically defined named ranges are useful for referring to ranges that may have changing dimensions or location, such as a column in a table where rows and columns are sometimes added or removed.
Named ranges may be used in formulas. For example, where the range A1:A5 is named MyNamedRange, the following formulas are the same:
=SUM(A1:A5)
and
=SUM(MyNamedRange)
Name ranges may also be used in VBA application.
Dim rng as Range
'MyNamedRange is previously defined named range.
Set rng = Range("MyNamedRange")
'Alternative way of defining range object using named range
Set rng = [MyNamedRange]
