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Excel - Stop Excel's Annoying Behavior: How to Edit in the Insert Name Dialog Box - Episode 971

429 views · Published 17 March 2009 · 2:33 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: MrExcel.com · 2009 · Education

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Microsoft Excel Tutorial: Stop Excel's Annoying Behavior: How to Edit in the Insert Name Dialog Box.

Welcome to the MrExcel netcast, where we tackle all your Excel woes and provide you with solutions to make your data analysis easier. In this episode, we'll be discussing a common problem that many Excel users face - the insert name dialog box. I'm Bill Jelen and I'll be your guide through this issue.

If you've ever found yourself in the insert name dialog box, trying to edit a character and accidentally inserting sheet names or cell addresses, then you know how frustrating it can be. This is a problem that has plagued me for years, until I discovered a simple solution that I'll be sharing with you today.

But before we dive into the solution, I want to remind all our viewers who are basketball fans in the United States to enter our NCAA contest. It's free to play and you could win some great Excel books. Just head over to mrexcel.com and download the spreadsheet to make your picks. But hurry, entries are due by noon on Tuesday.

Now, back to our problem at hand. Our viewer Jennifer, who is relatively new to Excel, has been struggling with the insert name dialog box for the past seven months. She's not alone, as many of us have faced this issue. But fear not, I have the solution for you.

Next time you find yourself in the insert name dialog box, look at the lower left-hand corner of the entire spreadsheet where it says "ready". By pressing the F2 key, you can change the status from "ready" to "edit". This will allow you to use the left and right arrow keys to move within the text without accidentally pointing to new cells. It's a simple solution, but it will save you a lot of frustration.

And this solution doesn't just apply to the insert name dialog box, it can also be used in other instances where the left arrow key starts inserting cell addresses. Just press the F2 key and you're good to go. I remember someone along the way shared this solution with me and it has truly ended my frustrations with this issue.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the MrExcel netcast. I hope this solution helps you in your Excel journey. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more helpful tips and tricks. See you next time!

Buy Bill Jelen's latest Excel book: https://www.mrexcel.com/products/latest/

You can help my channel by clicking Like or commenting below: https://www.mrexcel.com/like-mrexcel-on-youtube/


Jennifer is relatively new to Excel and asks about using the Insert Name dialog. Any time that you are in the RefEdit field and hit a left or right arrow key to move within the formula, Excel starts inserting cell addresses. Episode 971 shows you how to turn off that annoying behavior.

This video is the podcast companion to the book, Learn Excel 97-2007 from MrExcel. Download a new two minute video every workday to learn one of the 377 tips from the book!

Table of Contents:
(00:00) Introduction to MrExcel netcast
(00:19) Information about NCAA contest
(00:31) Question from Jennifer about editing in a dialog box
(01:17) Solution to editing in a dialog box
(02:00) Clicking Like really helps the algorithm

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