Excel Relative References
Relative and Absolute References
Excel cells contain unique references, which indicate where they are.
Formulas employ references to do computations, and they can be extended sideways, downward, or upward by using the fill function.
References in Excel come in two varieties:
- Relative references
- Absolute references
The decision to use absolute reference is ours. It is an Excel command that locks a reference.
Referential absoluteness is achieved by using the dollar symbol ($).
A1 is an example of a relative reference.
A $A$1 example of an absolute reference
Relative reference
By default, references are relative and do not include the dollar sign ($).
The cells are reference-free thanks to the relative reference. It allows the fill function to proceed with the order without hindrance.
In order to assist Pokemon trainers in counting their Pokeballs (B2:B7) and Great balls (C2:C7), let’s have a look at a comparable reference case.
The result is: D2(5):
Next, fill the range D2:D7:
Because the references are relative, the fill function can carry out the formula for subsequent rows.
Examine the formulas found in D2:D7. As you fill, take note of how it calculates the following row.
A Non-Working Example
Let’s try an example that will not work.
Fill D2:G2, filling to the right instead of downwards. Resulting in strange numbers:
Have a look at the formulas.
It makes the assumption that we are computing sideways rather than vertically.
The numbers we fill in must point in the same direction as the numbers we wish to compute.
