You absolutely need to understand absolute cell references to be a power Excel user, so watch Excel Video 253 today. In Excel Video 252 the row and column references in our formula changed each time we pasted the formula to a new cell. While many times I want the formula to change, there are several situations where I always want to point to the same cell even if I paste the formula to a new cell.
The shortcut to locking in a cell reference so that the row and column references don’t change is the F4 key. Notice how the F4 key puts a $ in front of both the column and the row reference. You can tell at a glance whether a formula is relative or absolute by looking for the dollar signs. Also watch the video for an example of when you’d use an absolute reference.
Stay tuned. We’ve talked about relative references where both the column and row references change when the formula is pasted. We’ve covered absolute references where neither the row nor the column changes when the formula is pasted. Next time we’ll cover mixed references, the middle ground where either the row or the column reference changes while the other reference stays the same. We’ll use the F4 key again and work with a real world example of when I’ve used mixed references in the past. I look forward to seeing you then.
