Knowledge Base

XL97: #NAME? Error in Formula After Copying into Data Range

Article ID: 174290

Article Last Modified on 10/19/2000

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q174290

SYMPTOMS

When you copy and paste cells on your worksheet, formulas that refer to data in the range you copied return a "#NAME?" error.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when you do the following:

You create a formula and use a label as a reference in the formula. -and-
You copy cells and overwrite one of the ranges referenced by a label in your formula.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, reenter the formula. To reenter a formula, follow these steps:

Select the cell with the #NAME? error.
Press F2 to enter Edit mode. Press ENTER.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Excel 97 introduces natural language formulas, which is a method you can use to refer to a cell range in a table by using row or column labels as the reference name. Natural language formulas use the intersection feature that is available in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel.

For additional information about natural language formulas, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

161881 XL97: How to Use Natural Language Formulas

Additional query words: XL97 nlf

Keywords: kberrmsg kbbug KB174290