Excel TutorialLesson 13Free preview

Excel Relative Reference

This lesson is part of Excel · All levels

Summary

Relative reference is the cell address without the $ sign that changes following the position when the formula is copied. For example, the =A1 in B1 will be =A2 when copied to the line below it. This is the mechanism that makes one formula usable for hundreds of lines without rewriting.

Key points

Relative references do not use the $ sign so they are switched when copied.
= A1 in B1 that is copied to B2 to = A2
It's perfect for line-by-line data patterns.
Contrary to the absolute reference locked with $

Full lesson

Code examples and quizzes

Full lessons, code examples, and quizzes are available to subscribers. 5 questions.