Excel for Office 365 for Mac Excel 2019 for Mac Excel 2016 for Mac Excel for Mac 2011 By default, a cell reference is relative. For example, when you refer to cell A2 from cell C2, you are actually referring to a cell that is two columns to the left (C minus A), and in the same row (2). A formula that contains a relative cell reference changes as you copy it from one cell to another. For example, if you copy the formula =A2+B2 from cell C2 to C3, the formula references in C3 adjust downward by one row and become =A3+B3. If you want to maintain the original cell reference when you copy it, you 'lock' it by putting a dollar sign ( $) before the cell and column references.
When I moved to Excel for Mac my trusted F4 key know longer worked. The first time I hit F4 on my MacBook Pro I got the Dashboard. For a long time after that, I manually edited my formulas when ever I had to change from a relative to an absolute reference.
For example, when you copy the formula =$A$2+$B$2 from C2 to D2, the formula stays exactly the same. This is an absolute reference. In less frequent cases, you may want to make a cell reference 'mixed' by preceding either the column or the row value with a dollar sign to 'lock' either the column or the row (for example, $A2 or B$3).
To change the type of cell reference:. Select the cell that contains the cell reference that you want to change. In the formula bar, click the cell reference that you want to change. Press + T to move through the combinations.
The following table summarizes what happens if a formula in cell A1, which contains a reference, is copied. Specifically, the formula is copied two cells down and two cells to the right, to cell C3.
Current reference (description): Changes to: $A$1 (absolute column and absolute row) $A$1 (the reference is absolute) A$1 (relative column and absolute row) C$1 (the reference is mixed) $A1 (absolute column and relative row) $A3 (the reference is mixed) A1 (relative column and relative row) C3 (the reference is relative) See Also.