from adding up values in cell C6 to C11 as given in the below image. Suppose if you want to find out the Sum of sales for the months given i.e. But what if you create a circular reference in Excel accidentally and here’s an example for accidental creation of circular reference: However, there are situations where you may want to purposely create a circular reference. When you click the OK button, it displays zero (0) in the cell A3. Once the above warning displays, you can click either help (for more information) or OK (close the message) button. Circular references can also result in infinite recursions or other unexpected failures such as program errors, compile errors, etc. When a circular reference occurs, a dialog box with warning will be displayed as: see more info at The below example will help you visualize better: Since the cell A3 referred back to its cell, it created a circular reference. You select the cell A3 and enter the formula as =A1-A2-A3. Let us understand this concept with an example.įor instance, you have two values in cell A1 and A2.

What will happen if the formula you entered includes the cell where your formula resides? This situation is called a Circular Reference in excel.

When we enter a formula in any cell, we give a reference to the other cells in the sheet for getting answers for our calculations. Circular Reference in Excel – An Introduction This article will help you clarify what is Circular Reference in Excel, how to find, fix, remove, and avoid it. Got a warning message stating you formed a circular reference? No idea on how to deal with it? Then you are in the right place.

Excel iterative function