This Reddit user has put their finger on exactly why traditional spreadsheets are no longer the right tool for the job. The request is straightforward, clone a table, preserve its data validation, and keep formulas intact across sheets, but the solution they're reaching for, VBA, is a dead end disguised as a workaround. The problem isn't that they're "terrible at VBA." The problem is that a spreadsheet designed thirty years ago shouldn't require a programming language to perform a basic templating operation.
Let's look at what they're actually asking for. They need a way to duplicate a structured table with defined names, formatting, and formulas onto a new sheet, then have those defined names automatically update to reference the new location. They want the table to expand cleanly without breaking the layout below it. That's not an exotic request. It's a routine data management task that any modern tool should handle natively. Yet here we are, watching someone spend hours hunting for VBA tutorials that don't exist, apologizing for their lack of coding skill, and ultimately hitting a wall that isn't their fault.
This is where AI-native spreadsheets change the equation. Instead of asking a user to write brittle macros that break when a column moves or a sheet gets renamed, you describe the outcome you want: "Clone this table to a new sheet, keep the validation rules, and update the named ranges to match the new sheet name." The AI interprets the intent, executes the operation, and handles the edge cases, like maintaining blank rows after the table, without requiring the user to think like a programmer. The user stays focused on what they're building, not on how to force the tool to cooperate.
The deeper point here is that data validation shouldn't be a source of friction in the first place. Defined names are a legacy workaround for a tool that never truly understood relationships between cells. An AI-native spreadsheet treats your table as a single, intelligent object. Clone it, and everything that belongs to it, validation rules, formulas, formatting, comes along automatically. The defined names don't need to be re-created because the system already knows the table's identity regardless of where it lives.
So stop hunting for the perfect VBA snippet. The constraint isn't your skill level; it's the tool you're using. The real solution is a spreadsheet that treats your data as data, not as a grid of cells that need manual babysitting. Clone your table. Let the AI handle the validation. Spend your energy on the work that actually matters.