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

Absolute Reference in Excel In some cases, you don't want every reference in an Excel formula to update when you copy the formula to new cells.

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.

Absolute references are particularly useful when performing calculations that involve fixed values or when you need to maintain the integrity of specific cell references.