How to make an exact copy of a formula

Usually, this is exactly what you want.

Let’s take a look at a few ways to do that.

First, let’s take a look at the problem.

Here’s a simple spreadsheet that captures hours worked in a week and displays a total.

The total is calculated using theSUM functionon all cells above.

Let’s say you want to copy the formula that sums the hours to another location.

One way to prevent cell references in a formula from changing is to useabsolute references.

Then you’re free to copy a formula and the references won’t change.

So let’s undo that.

The standard way to copy a formula exactly is to copy the formula as text, and then paste.

To do this, first put the cell in Edit mode.

Next, choose the entire formula and copy it to the clipboard.

Use Escape to get out of Edit mode.

Note that the cell references have not changed.

Another way to make an exact copy of a formula is to use the keyboard shortcut Control-'.

Note that this only works when you are copying a formula to the cell directly below.

A simple way to do this is to use Cut and Paste instead of Copy and Paste.

Cutting to the clipboard keeps all cell references intact and unchanged.

you’re free to also useDrag and Drop.

Just select cell and hover the mouse over the cell boundary until the cursor changes.

Then drag the formula to a new location.