Cell Referencing in Excel

Ubaidur Rehman Khan

 A cell reference or cell address is a combination of a column letter and a row number that
identifies a cell on a worksheet.
 For example, A1 refers to the cell at the intersection of column A and row 1; B2 refers to the
second cell in column B, and so on.

 When used in a formula, cell references help Excel find the values the formula should calculate.
 For instance, to pull the value of A1 to another cell, you use this simple formula: =A1.
 To add up the values in cells A1 and A2, you use this one: =A1+A2
 What is a range reference in Excel?

 In Microsoft Excel, a range is a block of two or more cells.  A range reference is represented
by the address of the upper left cell and the lower right cell separated with a colon.
 For example, the range A1:C2 includes 6 cells from A1 through C2.
 Excel reference styles
 There exist two address styles in Excel: A1 and R1C1.
 A1 reference style in Excel
 A1 is the default style used most of the time. In this style, columns are defined by letters and
rows by numbers, i.e. A1 designates a cell in column A, row 1.
 R1C1 reference style in Excel
 R1C1 is the style where both rows and columns are identified by numbers, i.e. R1C1 designates
a cell in row 1, column 1.
 How to create a reference in Excel

 To make a cell reference on the same sheet, this is what you need to do:
 Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.
 Type the equal sign (=).
 Do one of the following:
 Type the reference directly in the cell or in the formula bar, or
 Click the cell you want to refer to.
 Type the rest of the formula and press the Enter key to complete it.
 For example, to add up the values in cells A1 and A2, you type the equal sign, click A1, type the plus
sign, click A2 and press Enter:
 To create a range reference, select a range of cells on the worksheet.

 For example, to add up the values in cells A1, A2 and A3, type the equal sign followed by
the name of the SUM function and the opening parenthesis, select the cells from A1 through
A3, type the closing parenthesis, and press Enter:
 How to cross reference in Excel
To refer to cells in another worksheet or a different Excel file, you must identify not only the target
cell(s), but also the sheet and workbook where the cells are located. This can be done by using so-
called external cell reference.
 How to reference another sheet in Excel
 To refer to a cell or a range of cells in another worksheet, type the name of the target worksheet
followed by an exclamation point (!) before the cell or range address.
 For example, here's how you can refer to cell A1 on Sheet2 in the same workbook:
 =Sheet2!A1
 If the name of the worksheet contains spaces or nonalphabetical characters, you must enclose
the name within single quotation marks, e.g. ='Target sheet'!A1
To prevent possible typos and mistakes, you can get Excel to create an external reference
for you automatically. Here's how:
1.Start typing a formula in a cell.
2.Click the sheet tab you want to cross-reference and select the cell or range of cells.
3.Finish typing your formula and press Enter.
 How to reference another workbook in Excel
 To refer to a cell or range of cells in a different Excel file, you need to include the workbook name in square
brackets, followed by the sheet name, exclamation point, and the cell or a range address. For example:
=[Book1.xlsx]Sheet1!A1
 If the file or sheet name contains non-alphabetical characters, be sure to enclose the path in single quotation
marks, e.g. ='[Target file.xlsx]Sheet1’!A1
 For example, to add up cells B2:B5 in the Jan sheet from Sales.xlsx workbook that resides within
the Reports folder on drive D, you write the following formula: =SUM(D:\Reports\[Sales.xlsx]Jan!B2:B5)
 Here's a breakdown of the reference parts:
 File Path. It points to the drive and directory in which your Excel file is stored (D:\Reports\ in this example).
 Workbook Name. It includes the file extension (.xlsx, .xls, or .xslm) and is always enclosed in square
brackets, like [Sales.xlsx] in the above formula.
 Sheet Name. This part of the Excel external reference includes the sheet name followed by an exclamation
point where the referenced cell(s) is located (Jan! in this example).
 Cell Reference. It points to the actual cell or a range of cells referenced in your formula.
 Types Of Cell References
 There are three types of cell references in Excel: relative, absolute and mixed. When writing a formula for a
single cell, you can go with any type. But if you intend to copy your formula to other cells, it is important that
you use an appropriate address type because relative and absolute cell references behave differently when filled
to other cells.
 Relative cell reference in Excel
 A relative reference is the one without the $ sign in the row and column coordinates, like A1 or A1:B10. By
default, all cell addresses in Excel are relative
 When moved or copied across multiple cells, relative references change based on the relative position of rows
and columns. So, if you want to repeat the same calculation across several columns or rows, you need to use
relative cell references.
 For example, to multiply numbers in column A by 5, you enter this formula in B2: =A2*5. When copied from
row 2 to row 3, the formula will change to =A3*5.
Absolute cell reference in Excel
 An absolute reference is the one with the dollar sign ($) in the row or column coordinates, like $A$1 or
$A$1:$B$10.
 An absolute cell reference remains unchanged when filling other cells with the same formula. Absolute
addresses are especially useful when you want to perform multiple calculations with a value in a specific cell
or when you need to co
 For example, to multiply the numbers in column A by the number in B2, you input the following formula in
row 2, and then copy the formula down the column by dragging the fill handle: by a formula to other cells
without changing references. =A2*$B$2
 The relative reference (A2) will change based on a relative position of a row where the formula is copied,
while the absolute reference ($B$2) will always be locked on the same cell:
Mixed cell reference
 A mixed reference contains one relative and one absolute coordinate, like $A1 or A$1.
 For example, to multiply a column of numbers (column A) by 3 different numbers (B2, C2 and D2), you put the
following formula in B3, and then copy it down and to the right: =$A3*B$2
 In $A3, you lock the column coordinate because the formula should always multiply the original numbers in
column A. The row coordinate is relative since it needs to change for other rows.
 In B$2, you lock the row coordinate to tell Excel always to pick the multiplier in row 2. The column coordinate
is relative because the multipliers are in 3 different columns and the formula should adjust accordingly.
 As the result, all the calculations are performed with a single formula, which changes properly for each row and
column where it is copied.