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Excel accepts cell references in what are called absolute and relative ranges. Absolute ranges have a $ character before the column portion of the reference and/or the row portion of the reference. Relative ranges do not use the $ character. The $ character indicates to Excel that it should not increment the column and/or row reference as you fill a range with a formula or as you copy a range. For example A1 is a relative range, while $A$1 is an absolute range. If you enter =A1 in a cell and then fill that cell down a column, the '1' in the reference will increment in each row. Thus, the formula in row 50 would be =A50. However, if you enter =$A$1 in a cell and fill down, the range reference will remain $A$1 -- it will not increment as you fill or copy down a column.

There are three absolute styles:

Reference Style Meaning $A$1 Both the column and row reference are fixed. Neither will be incremented or changed during a copy or fill operation.

$A1 Only the column reference is fixed. It will not change during a fill or copy, but the row will change.

A$1 Only the row reference is fixed. It will not change during a fill or copy, but the column will change.

If you select all or part of a formula in the formula, you can press F4 to cycle range reference between the 4 styles (1 relative and 3 absolute).