Experience the efficiency of Excel formulas by learning mixed cell referencing techniques. This essential skill enables rapid formula replication across rows and columns without tedious manual adjustments.
Key Insights
- Utilize mixed cell references in Excel to lock either rows or columns, enabling accurate formula duplication across multiple cells without rewriting formulas each time.
- Apply the F4 key strategically (pressing it one, two, or three times) to selectively lock the column or row references, as demonstrated through multiplication tables and investment growth calculations.
- Implementing mixed referencing techniques significantly boosts efficiency in data-related tasks, providing speed and accuracy benefits in data analytics workflows.
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Cell References. This topic is not related specifically to data analytics, but it will help you copy formulas across multiple cells very quickly. Because if you use mixed referencing, you can write a formula that works across multiple columns and multiple rows without having to rewrite the formula.
So let me show you a quick example related to the multiplication table. Now down here, I'm going to select all the cells. I want to be able to multiply all the values in the column with all the values in the row.
Now you may think you'll be able to do this by simply selecting the first value in the column and multiplying that by the first value in the row. When I press control enter, the results don't turn out the way that you would expect. Because I haven't locked the cells, the cells move.
And now the table starts to multiply the values it returns with itself. And you'll get astronomical numbers. So you think I know the solution to this.
I just forgot to lock the cells. So I'm going to select this cell. I'm going to press F4 and lock it.
Then I'm going to multiply it by this cell. And I'm also going to lock that. Now I'll press control enter.
Using control enter, I can transfer this one formula across multiple cells without having to autofill to the right and autofill down or use any kind of special keyboard shortcuts where I copy the formula down and then copy it across. If I just press control enter right here, I get my result across all the cells. Now you can see this is the extreme in the other direction.
I am getting the same calculation across multiple cells because when I lock the cells, the cells don't move. They stay the same and that just repeats across the entire table. Now the only way you're going to be able to get this to work is by using cell references that are mixed.
Mixed references are when you lock either the column or the row for the cell references in a calculation. We're going to do this here. Now you may not know which you're supposed to lock, but I'll give you a very simple way you can figure this out.
If the value you're selecting is in a column, most of the time you want to lock the column. So I'm going to press F4 three times. One, two, three.
The dollar sign is right before column E. So that's going to lock the column. Then I want to multiply that by the value above the cell. And I'll ask myself, is that value in either a column or a row? Well, it's in a row.
If it's in a row, then what you're going to lock is the row. I'll press F4 twice. One, two.
Now I'll press control enter and I'm ready to teach multiplication tables to my class. So that is a mixed reference formula. Obviously, you're going to work on more complicated formulas than this.
So you'll probably want to use mixed referencing with the example that we have up here. Here, I want to be able to calculate an initial investment that has a interest rate growth of 2%, 3%, 5%, 7, and 10% across seven years. Now you need to know the formula that will get you that result.
We're going to focus on how you're going to use mixed referencing to come up with the answer for all the values at once. So I'll type equal open parentheses. The first value I'm going to select is,000.
Now that value is in a column. So what am I going to lock? I'm going to lock the column. I'll press F4 three times.
One, two, three. Then I want to multiply that by open parentheses, one plus the interest. So the initial interest is over on the left.
I'm going to select that cell. That cell, along with other similar values, is also arranged in a column. So what I'm going to lock is the column.
I'll press F4 three times as well. One, two, three. Just press it enough times where you see the dollar sign is either in front of the column or the row.
In this case, it's before the column. All right. Now I'm going to enter in a close parentheses, and I need to take that calculation across seven years.
So I'm going to use the exponentiation mark and then I'm going to multiply that value by the value above, which represents the year. I'm going to start with year one. And for that, I need to lock the row.
Why? Because that value is in a row. So I'll press F4 twice. One, two, close parentheses, close parentheses.
You'll know you have the right number of parentheses when the last parentheses is black. Now I'm going to press Control-Enter. And that's how you can calculate using mixed referencing.
Even though this doesn't relate specifically to data analytics, being able to calculate your formulas quickly when you're working in data analytics will make you much more efficient. Thank you for watching.