Chapter 10. Circular references

Questions answered in this chapter:

  • I often get a circular reference message from Excel. Does this mean I’ve made an error?

  • How can I resolve circular references?

When Microsoft Excel 2013 displays a message stating that your workbook contains a circular reference, it means there is a loop, or dependency, between two or more cells in a workbook. For example, a circular reference occurs if the value in cell A1 influences the value in D3, the value in cell D3 influences the value in cell E6, and the value in cell E6 influences the value in cell A1. Figure 10-1 illustrates the pattern of a circular reference.

This figure shows a circular reference in which A1 affects D3, D3 affects E6, and E6 affects A1.

Figure 10-1. This ...

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