2.2.6 Absolute Row and/or Column

Note that a cell reference can be one of the following four combinations:

• relative column, relative row: e.g. C1. This is the most common method.
• relative column, absolute row: e.g. C$1.
• absolute column, relative row: e.g. $C1.
• absolute column, absolute row: e.g. $C$1.

In general, you should use absolute referencing only when it is necessary. If you use absolute referencing too much, you will find that your formulae cannot be moved/copied as flexibly as it should be.

In our example, if we used $C$1 instead of C$1, you will see that we cannot the cells from A1:C4 to other parts of the spreadsheet. Using C$1, we can move A1:C4 to D1:F4 without changing the values.