Excel tools to demonstrate

Try it! Name the ranges A3:A8, B3:B8, and so on according to the labels in row 2.

Sometimes you enter a formula using cell addresses, such as =B20-B21. Later, you name B20 as Revenue and B21 as Cost. The formula does not change to =Revenue-Cost automatically. However, it would be nice to make it change (and hence become more readable). In Excel 2003 and previous versions, you could highlight the formula and use the InsertNameApply menu item to change the formula so that it showed range names. However, this option appears to have been deleted in Excel 2007. You can use the Use in Formula option from the Defined Names group, but this is basically just a “crutch” to help you redefine your formula. Microsoft evidently had its reasons for deleting this functionality, but I’m not what they were. Too bad!

To see a list of all range names and check which ranges they apply to:

Click on the down arrow at the right of the name box, and click on any of the range names you see. That range will then be selected automatically.