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Understanding Cell References in Excel

A cell reference in Excel indicates the relationship between cells, such as A1 referring to A2. There are three types of cell references: absolute, which remains constant when copied; relative, which changes based on the cell's position; and mixed, which allows anchoring either the row or column. Understanding these references is essential for effective spreadsheet management.

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25 views1 page

Understanding Cell References in Excel

A cell reference in Excel indicates the relationship between cells, such as A1 referring to A2. There are three types of cell references: absolute, which remains constant when copied; relative, which changes based on the cell's position; and mixed, which allows anchoring either the row or column. Understanding these references is essential for effective spreadsheet management.

Uploaded by

vickroid007
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Cell Reference in Excel

What is a Cell Reference?


A “cell reference” means the cell to which another cell refers. For
example, if in cell A1 you have =A2. Then A1 refers to A2.

Cells in the spreadsheet are referred to by rows and columns.


Columns are vertical and labeled with letters. Rows are horizontal
and labeled with numbers.

The first cell in the spreadsheet is A1, which means column A, row 1, B3 refers to the cell located on the second
column, third row, and so on.

Types of cell references


There are three types of cell references.

Absolute – This means the cell reference stays the


same if you copy or move the cell to any other cell. This
is done by anchoring the row and column, so it does not
change when copied or moved.

Relative – Relative referencing means that the cell


address changes as you copy or move it; i.e. the cell
reference is relative to its location.

Mixed – This means you can choose to anchor either


the row or the column when you copy or move the cell,
so that one changes and the other does not. For
example, you could anchor the row reference then move a cell down two rows and across four columns and the
row reference stays the same. We will explain this further below.

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