How to use Lambda functions in Excel.

What is LAMBDA? It allows us to take a formula and convert it into our own named custom function. Here’s an example of creating a custom function using Lambda:

Normally we create such functions using VBA and collectively they are called User Defined Functions (UDF). An interesting example of a user-defined-function is to calculate compound interest. If we make use of repeated calculations and wish to define such a function once and reuse it, we can create a LAMBDA function as shown in the image above. We show below the same MyLambda function in an Excel worksheet:

How to name a Lambda Function.

Once we have thought of a function and confirmed the validity of its results , we can give it a name and store it for reuse. Here we make use of the name manager.

We click on Formulas and the Name Manager and enter the details:

Name: The name of our function. We could also name the function ProductOfTwoNumbers.
Comment: We have added no comment. But we could add: multiplies two numbers.
Refers to: Our lambda function definition.

It’s done! We can make use of your new custom function in the workbook by calling it by its name: =MyLambda(A2,B2)

This would return the value 35 as shown above since the range A2 has the value 5 and the range B2 has the value 7.

Watch the video below: