Instructions for using Name Box in Excel

Name Box in Microsoft Excel is an extremely useful feature. You already know all the uses and usage of Name Box yet? Join us to find out!

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You cannot go anywhere in Microsoft Excel without using this small box. But where is the Name Box in Excel? It is right next to the formula bar in the worksheet, showing the cell address or the selected object. That is the most obvious use of Name Box in Microsoft Excel. Additionally, you can use it as a powerful selection tool or quick navigation throughout the spreadsheet.

However, the above is only a small part of the use of Name Box. This article will give you all the ways to use Excel's Name Box most effectively for work.

1. Find the address of the selected box

As illustrated above, the Name Box shows C4 because cell C4 is currently selected. Click in any cell when you want to know its address to use in the formula.

Box Name not only gives you the address of a cell but also of any group of cells. For example:

Select a cell block: The  Name Box will identify the first cell in the selection group.

Select a range of nonadjacent cells:  You can select several cells that are not in the same group. Press the key Ctrland select a range of nonadjacent cells. The Name Box in Excel will display the last cell address of your choice.

If you want to go to a specific cell or range, type that cell's address into the Name Box and select them if needed.

Follow this way to see how the Name Box increases work efficiency when you have to handle tables with many rows, columns, even spreadsheets.

2. Use the Name Box to select the box

Thanks to the Name Box, you do not need to use the mouse but you can still select a block of cells just by their address.

Select a cell block: In the screenshot below, type A2: B10 into the Name Box, then press Enter. This selects a block of cells and you do not need to move the worksheet with your mouse.

Select a range of cells on another worksheet:  Add a workbook reference (for example, Sheet2! A5: B10) in the Name Box.

Select multiple blocks:  As shown below, you can type A1: A5, C1: C5, G1: G5 and press Enterto select any number of nonadjacent blocks at once.

You can jump from cell to cell by typing their address. To jump to any cell in another workbook in the same workbook, type the worksheet name, exclamation point, cell address, and then press Enter. For example: Sheet2! A10.

3. Select rows & columns with Name Box

Use Excel's Name Box as a quick tip for selecting rows and columns. They are handy Excel keyboard shortcuts when you don't want to use a mouse.

Select current row:  Type the letters Rin the Name Box and click Enterto select the current row.

Select the current column:  Type Cin the Name Box key and press Enterto select the current column.

Word Rand CExcel are specifically designed for this purpose and you can use these two letters to create Named Ranges in Excel.

Select any number of rows:  Want to highlight the first 5 rows? Type 1: 5 in the Name Box and click Enterto select from row 1 to 5. You must select two or more rows. If you type a number in the Name Box (for example, 1), and click Enter, Excel displays an error.

Choose from two or more columns:  Want to highlight the first 5 columns? Type A: E in the Name Box, then click Enterto select columns A through E. Again, you must select two or more columns.

Select certain rows and columns at the same time: You can even select several rows and columns at once. For example, type A: C, 5: 7 and press Enterto make a selection.

This is very interesting because you can see the row and column intersection immediately. In the screen below, the data range is in the range A5: C7.

In the above case, you can also isolate the intersection of the cells by typing A: C 5: 7 . Remove commas and add whitespace between ranges to see Excel highlighting cells that intersect the two ranges.

Find the total number of rows and columns : The Name Box displays the total number of rows and columns when you left-click or hold the key Shiftwhen selecting a block of cells.

4. Create Named Ranges for Excel formulas

Imagine Excel spreadsheets referring to several range of cells with different formulas. It's easy to confuse cells with numbers and letters. If the cell has a characteristic descriptive name, it is not difficult to know its contents. Excel uses Named Ranges to do this task and you will need Name Box support.

1. Select a cell or a range of cells.
2. Provide a descriptive name option in the Name Box. Press Enter.
3. Use an alternate name of cell address selection or the entire range of cells in any formula.

On the screen below, the article assigns the Interest name to cells B3 to B7 . Select the range of cells, type Interest into the Name Box, and then press Enter. All names in the workbook must start with a letter, underline or backslash and must be written immediately.

5. Name all objects in Excel worksheet

A spreadsheet can contain many different objects such as pictures, charts, macro buttons, sample management features such as buttons, checkboxes ... Excel uses a name containing numbers like Chart1, Chart2 ... to name them. You can navigate to any object by typing these names in the Name Box.

However, similar to the Defined Ranges for simpler formulas, you can give descriptive names to each object so that they are easier to find.

1. Select a chart, picture or object.
2. Put the cursor in the Name Box and type a new descriptive name.
3. Press Enter.

6. Insert (or delete) multiple blank rows with the Name Box

Name Box is one of the ways for you to insert blank rows into Excel. This method is useful when you want to insert multiple rows at once. Go to Name Box and use the starting row: ending row format and numeric values ​​for the row you want.

For example, if you want to insert 10 rows from row 2, type 2:11 in the Name Box and press Enter. Excel will select the next 10 rows starting with row 2 choice (because row 2 is counted in the next 10 rows, you must enter the number 11).

Then right-click the selected rows, then click Insert . 10 blank rows will be inserted from the second row as you see in the picture below.

This method is very convenient when you want to insert thousands of blank rows for some reason.

7. See Macro

As mentioned above, Excel allows you to name each macro button. However, you can also open the Visual Basic editor to enter the source code for any macro.

Type the macro name in the Name Box. The VBA Editor opens with the source of the macro for you to edit or view.

Saving time is why you shouldn't skip Excel's Name Box utility. In addition, it is the main navigational tool, at the same time, supporting simplified spreadsheet processing. Hopefully the article will help you make good use of the Name Box in Excel.