Absolute Cell References

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Please read the following:
There are two types of cell references: relative and absolute. Relative and absolute references behave differently when copied and filled to other cells. Relative references change when a formula is copied to another cell. Absolute references, on the other hand, remain constant, no matter where they are copied.

There may be times when you do not want a cell reference to change when filling cells. Unlike relative references, absolute references do not change when copied or filled. You can use an absolute reference to keep a row and/or column constant.

An absolute reference is designated in a formula by the addition of a dollar sign ($). It can precede the column reference (a LETTER), the row reference (a NUMBER), or both.

• $A1 means that the column will not change when copying or dragging the cell
• A$1 means that the row number will not change when copying or dragging the cell
• $A$1 means that neither the row or the column will change when copying or dragging the cell information

When writing a formula, you can press the F4 key on your keyboard to switch between relative and absolute cell references. This is an easy way to quickly insert an absolute cell reference.

Video

Let's see how this works when applied to a worksheet

Remember, using the F4 key will switch between absolute and relative cell references