What is the purpose of the '$' in an Excel formula (absolute reference)?

What is the purpose of the '$' in an Excel formula (absolute reference)?

• A. To fix a cell reference so it does not change when the formula is copied
• B. To indicate currency value
• C. To denote a formula end
• D. To create a relative reference

Answer: (A)

Absolute references use the dollar sign to fix a cell reference so it doesn’t change when you copy the formula. This lets you keep pointing to the same cell (or the same row/column) no matter where the formula is pasted. For example, =B$2+C$2 keeps the row fixed at 2 while the columns can shift if you copy across; moving down would still reference row 2. If you lock both parts with =$B$2 and =$C$2, copying anywhere keeps pointing to those exact cells. The dollar sign isn’t about currency; currency formatting handles that, and here it’s about anchoring references, not about ending a formula or creating a relative reference.

Absolute references use the dollar sign to fix a cell reference so it doesn’t change when you copy the formula. This lets you keep pointing to the same cell (or the same row/column) no matter where the formula is pasted. For example, =B$2+C$2 keeps the row fixed at 2 while the columns can shift if you copy across; moving down would still reference row 2. If you lock both parts with =$B$2 and =$C$2, copying anywhere keeps pointing to those exact cells. The dollar sign isn’t about currency; currency formatting handles that, and here it’s about anchoring references, not about ending a formula or creating a relative reference.