In each case it is changing the reference to refer to the cell one to the left on the same row as the cell that the formula is in, i.e. If we have the very simple formula '=A1' in cell B1 it will change as follows when copied and pasted: When you copy and paste an Excel formula from one cell to another, the cell references change, relative to the new position: I am talking about use of the dollar sign ($) in an Excel formula. I want to cover something today that I use all of the time but seems to be understood in varying degrees by clients I work with.