Cell References in Excel Formulas When you create a formula in an Excel cell, you'll frequently include a reference to another cell in the spreadsheet.

How to Format Relative References in Excel. Microsoft Excel relies on two fundamental reference types when addressing other cells. Absolute references -- which are denoted with a "$" -- lock a ...

There are three types of references in Excel—relative references, absolute references, and mixed references—and you can use the F4 key to toggle between these when generating a formula.

Pages Absolute and relative cell references Each cell in a worksheet has a unique reference that describes its position – for example A1.

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.