How to disable Excel's automatic cell reference change after copy/paste?

Question

I\'ve got a massive Excel 2003 spreadsheet I\'m working on. There are a lot of very large formulas with a lot of cell references. Here\'s a simple example.

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Answer 1

I came to this site looking for an easy way to copy without changing cell references. But now I thnk my own workaround is simpler than most of these methods. My method relies on the fact that Copy changes references but Move doesn't. Here's a simple example.

Assume you have raw data in columns A and B, and a formula in C (e.g. C=A+B) and you want the same formula in column F but Copying from C to F leads to F=D+E.

1. Copy contents of C to any empty temporary column, say R. The relative references will change to R=P+Q but ignore this even if it's flagged as an error.
2. Go back to C and Move (not Copy) it to F. Formula should be unchanged so F=A+B.
3. Now go to R and copy it back to C. Relative reference will revert to C=A+B
4. Delete the temporary formula in R.
5. Bob's your uncle.

I've done this with a range of cells so I imagine it would work with virtually any level of complexity. You just need an empty area to park the coiped cells. And of course you have to remember where you left them.

Answer 2

I found another workaround that is very simple: 1. Cut the contents 2. Paste them in the new location 3. Copy the contents that you just pasted into the new location you want. 4. Undo the Cut-Paste operation, putting the original contents back where you got them. 5. Paste the contents from the clipboard to the same location. These contents will have the original references.

It looks like a lot, but is super fast with keyboard shortcuts: 1. Ctrl-x, 2. Ctrl-v, 3. Ctrl-c, 4. Ctrl-z, 5. Ctrl-v

Answer 3

A very simple solution is to select the range you wish to copy, then Find and Replace (Ctrl + h), changing = to another symbol that is not used in your formula (e.g. #) - thus stopping it from being an active formula.

Then, copy and paste the selected range to it's new location.

Finally, Find and Replace to change # back to = in both the original and new range, thus restoring both ranges to being formulae again.

Answer 4

Try this: Left-click the tab, making a copy of the whole sheet, then cut the cells you want to keep the same and paste them into your original worksheet.

Answer 5

This simple trick works: Copy and Paste. Do NOT cut and paste. After you paste, then reselect the part you copied and go to EDIT, slide down to CLEAR, and CLEAR CONTENTS.

Answer 6

Click on the cell you want to copy. In the formula bar, highlight the formula.

Press Ctrl C.

Press escape (to take you out of actively editing that formula).

Choose new cell. Ctrl V.