Naming a Range of Cells in Excel

When using functions, it can sometimes be useful to name cell ranges when the references are fixed (instead of entering references with $), especially to make formulas more readable.

This is also possible with any other feature that requires specifying a fixed cell or cell range.

Usage Example

The following formula calculates the number of times each fruit appears in the fixed range $A$2:$A$27:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$27,A2)

To make the formula more readable, the fruit range will now be named fruits.

Select cells A2 to A27, enter the desired name, and press Enter to confirm:

From then on, whenever you need to refer to the fruit cell range, enter the named range fruits instead of $A$2:$A$27:

=COUNTIF(fruits,A2)