When the "$" quot; symbol is in an Excel spreadsheet, it changes the immediately following reference in a formula or string from a relative reference to an absolute reference.
Moving the Formula to Another Cell
If a formula or string containing a relative reference is moved to another cell in the spreadsheet, a relative reference moves along with it. If the formula or string contains an absolute reference, moving the formula to another cell makes no difference; the formula still refers to the same cell.
Referencing Cells and Referenced Cells The cell with the formula in it is a referencing cell---one that points to or references another cell---and the cell being pointed to is a referenced cell. In cell A3 we can write "=A1," and now A3 points to--and exhibits--the value in A1.
Why Not Just Rewrite the Data? Why wouldn't you simply rewrite the data? Because the relative reference you've now set up establishes a general positional relationship between the two cells that you can use throughout the spreadsheet simply by copying the formula to a new cell.
Example of a Relative Reference The cell A3 contains the following formula: "=A1": a relative reference to A1. If we copy this formula over to B3, the formula then reads: "=B1." We have moved the formula cell one column to the right; the relative reference in the formula, originally to A1, has moved to B1, also one column to the right.
Example of an Absolute Reference The cell A3 contains the following formula: "=$A1": an absolute reference to A. If we copy this formula over to B3, the formula still reads: "=A1." We have moved the formula cell one column to the right; the absolute relative reference in the formula is unchanged.
What "$" quot; Does The absolute reference in the example above, "=$A1," applies only to horizontal movement. To establish an absolute reference that also applies to vertical movement, the
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