What does the $ in front of a letter or number mean ?

It maintains the column and row references in the case where the cell is
copied and pasted in another column or row.
Example. If this formula was in A1 and you copied it to B2, the formula
would automatically change to:

=Sum-($C$22:F23)

Notice that cell C22 did not change, but E22 changed to F23.

HTH,
Paul



--

"applesarah" wrote in message
...
What does the $ in front of a letter or number mean ?

What does the $ in front of a letter or number mean ?

See if this helps you...

http://www.cpearson.com/excel/relative.aspx

Rick

The dollar sign ($) is a flag to Excel to "lock" that
part of the reference when copy/pasting the cell.

Examples:
A1: =B1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =D2

A1: =$B1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =$B2

A1: =B$1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =D$1

A1: =$B$1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =$B$1

For more information, search Excel Help for "range references"
and see the "about cell and range references" section
and select the "The difference between relative and absolute references"
topic

Does that help?
--------------------------

Regards,

Ron
Microsoft MVP (Excel)
(XL2003, Win XP)


"applesarah" wrote in message
...
What does the $ in front of a letter or number mean ?

Of course, my post was rife with typos. : \

All references to "C1" should be "C2".
My apologies.

--------------------------

Regards,

Ron
Microsoft MVP (Excel)
(XL2003, Win XP)


"Ron Coderre" wrote in message
...
The dollar sign ($) is a flag to Excel to "lock" that
part of the reference when copy/pasting the cell.

Examples:
A1: =B1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =D2

A1: =$B1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =$B2

A1: =B$1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =D$1

A1: =$B$1
Copy A1 and paste in C2.
The formula in C1 is: =$B$1

For more information, search Excel Help for "range references"
and see the "about cell and range references" section
and select the "The difference between relative and absolute references"
topic

Does that help?
--------------------------

Regards,

Ron
Microsoft MVP (Excel)
(XL2003, Win XP)


"applesarah" wrote in message
...
What does the $ in front of a letter or number mean ?

The $ means that the reference is absolute. For example $A$1 refers to cell
A1. You can copy that reference anywhere and it will refer to A1. If you use
A1, a relative reference, instead of $A$1, and you copy that it will change
to be relative to the cell into which you have copied it. For example if in
cell B1 you have the formula =$A$1 and copy that to cell B2 you will have
the formula =$A$1 in B2. If in B1 you have the formula =A1 and copy that to
cell B2 you will have the formula =A2 in B2. Relative references change,
absolute references do not. You can make the column and/or row absolute or
relative as in A1, $A1, A$1, $A$1
I suggest you acquire a book on Excel by an author such as John Walkenbach
to get a basic understanding of Excel.

Tyro


"applesarah" wrote in message
...
What does the $ in front of a letter or number mean ?

It applies absolute, rather than relative addressing (see Excel help, and
other answers here).

As a matter of interest, what is the minus sign after Sum in your formula
trying to do? In my Excel 2003 I get a #NAME? error from your formula. If
the minus sign is a typographical error, I would recommend that you don't
try to retype formulae between the newsgroup and your spreadsheet; instead
use copy and paste to and from your spreadsheet's formula bar.
--
David Biddulph

"applesarah" wrote in message
...
What does the $ in front of a letter or number mean ?