Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Turning Off Names.

Turning Off Names

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 30, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Excel includes the capability to convert cell references (such as B2 or C7) to names you have defined within a document; exactly how you do this has been covered in other issues of ExcelTips. There is no inherent command that will convert from named references back to cell references.

Unfortunately, if you try to delete names already defined in a workbook, Excel simply replaces the results of formulas referencing the name with the #NAME? error. The only way to switch back to cell references is to edit each of the formulas that reference a name and replace the reference with a cell reference.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2584) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Turning Off Names.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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