= Spreadsheet cell reference
= A1 spreadsheet reference
{c}
{synonym}
A <spreadsheet cell reference> identifies the <spreadsheet cell> read by a <spreadsheet formula>. In A1 notation, `B3` combines a column letter with a row number. For copying, the column and row can each be relative or absolute, independently: a `$` immediately before a coordinate fixes that coordinate during the copy. The `$` is an addressing marker, not a currency symbol. <Switch between relative, absolute, and mixed references, Microsoft Support>[Switch between relative, absolute, and mixed references: opening paragraphs and table of reference changes when copying two cells down and two cells right]{ref}
Number columns as $A=1$, $B=2$, and so on. If a <spreadsheet formula> moves by $\Delta c$ columns and $\Delta r$ rows during copying, a referenced coordinate $(c,r)$ becomes
$$
(c',r')=(c+\varepsilon_c\Delta c,\ r+\varepsilon_r\Delta r),
$$
where each $\varepsilon$ is $1$ for a relative coordinate and $0$ for an absolute coordinate. This is a <translation> on the unfixed coordinates. For ordinary in-sheet references whose translated addresses exist, repeated copies compose by <addition> of their displacements: substitute the rule twice to obtain $c''=c+\varepsilon_c(\Delta c_1+\Delta c_2)$, and likewise for the row. Copying therefore preserves either a fixed coordinate or an offset from the formula's location.
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