Microsoft Excel updates cell references when you copy an expression. Here are a couple of workarounds for those rare occasions when you don't want to change the cell references.

How to Remove Circular References in Excel. In a Microsoft Excel 2010 spreadsheet, you may have formulas sitting in one cell that require the information within another cell in order to calculate.

Cells in Excel are referred to using relative or absolute references. A formula with relative references changes when the cell's position does.

Q: My partner says there’s an F4 shortcut to creating absolute cell references in Excel formulas, but for the life of me I can’t make it work.

Each cell in a worksheet has a unique reference that describes its position – for example A1. In a spreadsheet, there are two types of cell reference – 'relative cell reference' and 'absolute ...

If Excel is not highlighting cells in the formula, place the cursor in the cell containing the formula and press fn+f2. This should highlight all the cell references.