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.

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

How to Format Relative References in Excel. Microsoft Excel relies on two fundamental reference types when addressing other cells. Absolute references -- which are denoted with a "$" -- lock a ...

Each cell in a worksheet has a unique reference that describes its position – for example A1. In a spreadsheet, there are two types of cell reference – 'relative cell reference' and 'absolute ...

Another reader recommended using the F4 function key to toggle between making a cell reference relative and absolute. Either double-click on the cell or press F2 to edit the cell; then hit F4.