1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

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Create or change a cell reference

Applies To: Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2010, Excel 2007

A cell reference refers to a cell or a range of cells on a worksheet and can be used in a formula so
that Microsoft Office Excel can find the values or data that you want that formula to calculate.

In one or several formulas, you can use a cell reference to refer to:

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1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

Data from one or more contiguous cells on the worksheet.

Data contained in different areas of a worksheet.

Data on other worksheets in the same workbook.

For example:

This formula: Refers to: And Returns:

=C2 Cell C2 The value in cell C2.

=A1:F4 Cells A1 through F4 The values in all cells, but you must press
Ctrl+Shift+Enter after you type in your formula.

=Asset-Liability The cells named Asset The value in the cell named Liability subtracted
and Liability from the value in the cell named Asset.

{=Week1+Week2} The cell ranges named The sum of the values of the cell ranges named
Week1 and Week2 Week1 and Week 2 as an array formula.

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1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

This formula: Refers to: And Returns:

=Sheet2!B2 Cell B2 on Sheet2 The value in cell B2 on Sheet2.

What do you want to do?

Create a cell reference on the same worksheet

Create a cell reference to another worksheet

Create a cell reference by using the Link Cells command

Change a cell reference to another cell reference

Change a cell reference to a named range

Switch between relative, absolute, and mixed references

Create a cell reference on the same worksheet

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1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.

2. In the formula bar , type = (equal sign).

3. Do one of the following:

Reference one or more cells    To create a reference, select a cell or range of cells on the
same worksheet.

You can drag the border of the cell selection to move the selection, or drag the corner of
the border to expand the selection.

Reference a defined name    To create a reference to a defined name, do one of the

following:

Type the name.

Press F3, select the name in the Paste name box, and then click OK.

Note: If there is no square corner on a color-coded border, the reference is to a named

range.

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1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

4. Do one of the following:

If you are creating a reference in a single cell, press Enter.

If you are creating a reference in an array formula (such A1:G4), press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

The reference can be a single cell or a range of cells, and the array formula can be one that
calculates single or multiple results.

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Create a cell reference to another worksheet

You can refer to cells that are on other worksheets in the same workbook by prepending the
name of the worksheet followed by an exclamation point (!) to the start of the cell reference. In
the following example, the worksheet function named AVERAGE calculates the average value for
the range B1:B10 on the worksheet named Marketing in the same workbook.

Reference to a range of cells on another worksheet in the same workbook

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1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

1. Refers to the worksheet named Marketing

2. Refers to the range of cells between B1 and B10, inclusively

3. Separates the worksheet reference from the cell range reference

1. Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.

2. In the formula bar , type = (equal sign) and the formula you want to use.

3. Click the tab for the worksheet to be referenced.

4. Select the cell or range of cells to be referenced.

Note: If the name of the other worksheet contains nonalphabetical characters, you must enclose
the name (or the path) within single quotation marks (').

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Create a cell reference by using the Link Cells

command
Alternatively, you can copy and paste a cell reference and then use the Link Cells command to
create a cell reference. You can use this command to:

Easily display important information in a more prominent position. Let's say that you have a
workbook that contains many worksheets, and on each worksheet is a cell that displays
summary information about the other cells on that worksheet. To make these summary cells
more prominent, you can create a cell reference to them on the first worksheet of the
workbook, which enables you to see summary information about the whole workbook on the
first worksheet.

Make it easier to create cell references between worksheets and workbooks. The Link Cells
command automatically pastes the correct syntax for you.

1. Click the cell that contains the data you want to link to.

2. Press Ctrl+C, or go to the Home tab, and in the Clipboard group, click Copy .

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3. Press Ctrl+V, or go to the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste .

By default, the Paste Options button appears when you paste copied data.

4. Click the Paste Options button, and then click Paste Link .

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Change a cell reference to another cell reference

1. Double-click the cell that contains the formula that you want to change. Excel highlights each
cell or range of cells referenced by the formula with a different color.

2. Do one of the following:

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To move a cell or range reference to a different cell or range, drag the color-coded border
of the cell or range to the new cell or range.

To include more or fewer cells in a reference, drag a corner of the border.

In the formula bar , select the reference in the formula, and then type a new
reference.

Press F3, select the name in the Paste name box, and then click OK.

3. Press Enter, or, for an array formula, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

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Change a cell reference to a named range

Frequently, if you define a name to a cell reference after you enter a cell reference in a formula,
you may want to update the existing cell references to the defined names.

1. Do one of the following:

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Select the range of cells that contains formulas in which you want to replace cell references
with defined names.

Select a single, empty cell to change the references to names in all formulas on the
worksheet.

2. On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click the arrow next to Define Name,
and then click Apply Names.

3. In the Apply names box, click one or more names, and then click OK.

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Switch between relative, absolute, and mixed

references
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1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

1. Select the cell that contains the formula.

2. In the formula bar , select the reference that you want to change.

3. Press F4 to switch between the reference types.

For more information about the different type of cell references, see Overview of formulas.

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1/17/2018 Create or change a cell reference - Excel

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