EDUCBA

EDUCBA

MENUMENU
  • Free Tutorials
  • Certification Courses
  • 120+ Courses All in One Bundle
  • Login
Home Excel Excel Resources Excel Tips Excel Circular Reference
Secondary Sidebar
Excel Functions
  • Excel Tips
    • Recover Document in Excel
    • Excel Shortcut to Select Row
    • Excel Header Row
    • Excel Insert Button
    • Excel Translate
    • Budget in Excel
    • KPI Dashboard in Excel
    • Blank Invoice Excel Template
    • Write Formula in Excel
    • Auditing Tools in Excel
    • Autofit Row Height in Excel
    • Formatting Text in Excel
    • Add Rows in Excel Shortcut
    • Divide Cell in Excel
    • Compare Two Columns in Excel for Matches
    • Excel Troubleshooting
    • Unprotect Excel Workbook
    • Subtract Date in Excel
    • Carriage Return in Excel
    • Negative Numbers in Excel
    • Worksheets in Excel
    • Excel Match Multiple Criteria
    • Exponential Moving Average Formula
    • Sentence Case in Excel
    • Excel Reverse Order
    • Excel Timesheet Template
    • Weighted Average in Excel
    • CTRL Shift-Enter in Excel
    • Excel Expense Tracker
    • INDEX MATCH Function in Excel
    • Percent Change in Excel
    • Drag and Drop in Excel
    • Shade Alternate Rows in Excel
    • Excel Database Template
    • Inverse Matrix in Excel
    • New Line in Excel Cell
    • Format Cells in Excel
    • Excel Text with Formula
    • Project Management Template in Excel
    • Vlookup vs Index Match
    • Embedded in Excel
    • Count Colored Cells in Excel
    • Excel Hacks
    • Column Header in Excel
    • Database Function in Excel
    • Excel Spell Check
    • Linear Interpolation in Excel
    • Convert Excel to CSV
    • Excel Not Responding
    • Delta Symbol in Excel
    • Excel Mortgage Calculator
    • Excel Show Formula
    • Break Links in Excel
    • VLOOKUP Examples in Excel
    • Alternate Row Color Excel
    • Checklist in Excel
    • Microsoft Office Tips
    • Excel vs Access
    • Excel Change Case
    • Count Characters in Excel
    • Formula Bar in Excel
    • Invoice Template in Excel
    • Find and Replace in Excel
    • PowerPivot in Excel
    • Wildcard in Excel
    • Line Break in Excel
    • NULL in Excel
    • Text Formula in Excel
    • Family Tree in Excel
    • Insert Calendar in Excel
    • Page Setup in Excel
    • Search For Text in Excel
    • Switching Columns in Excel
    • 3D Cell Reference in Excel
    • Roadmap Template in Excel
    • Cell References in Excel
    • Excel Automation
    • Matching Columns in Excel
    • Evaluate Formula in Excel
    • How to Find Mean in Excel
    • How to Add Cells in Excel
    • Project Timeline in Excel
    • TODAY Formula in Excel
    • Poisson Distribution in Excel
    • YEAR Formula in Excel
    • REPLACE Formula in Excel
    • Create Spreadsheet in Excel
    • SEARCH Formula in Excel
    • HYPERLINK Formula in Excel
    • Pivot Table with Multiple Sheets
    • COLUMNS Formula in Excel
    • DAY Formula in Excel
    • RIGHT Formula in Excel
    • INDIRECT Formula in Excel
    • Excel IRR Formula
    • Pivot Table Sort
    • OR Formula in Excel
    • Pivot Table Formula in Excel
    • How to Edit Drop Down List in Excel?
    • WEEKDAY Formula in Excel
    • Chart Wizard in Excel
    • Time Difference in Excel
    • Lookup Table in Excel
    • SUBTOTAL Formula in Excel
    • LOOKUP Formula in Excel
    • Themes in Excel
    • Group Worksheets in Excel
    • Excel ISNUMBER Formula
    • 3D Maps in Excel
    • VLOOKUP Tutorial in Excel
    • Moving Columns in Excel
    • Grouping Columns in Excel
    • Excel Formula of Percentage
    • Excel Leading Zeros
    • Timesheet in Excel
    • Nested IF Formula in Excel
    • SUMIF Formula in Excel
    • Concatenation in Excel
    • Excel Insert Page Break
    • LEN Formula in Excel
    • Insert Comment in Excel
    • Excel Print
    • Fractions in Excel
    • Excel Add a Column
    • Borders in Excel
    • Excel Sum by Color
    • Excel vs Google Sheets
    • Calculate Percentage Increase in Excel
    • Excel Format Phone Numbers
    • Excel Search Box
    • Excel vs CSV
    • Excel vs Numbers
    • Excel Concatenate Date
    • Excel Bullet Points
    • Calculate Compound Interest in Excel
    • Find External Links in Excel
    • Excel Comma Style
    • Excel Remove Leading Spaces
    • Combine First and Last Name in Excel
    • How to Calculate Ratio in Excel
    • SUMPRODUCT Function with Multiple Criteria
    • Create Excel Template
    • Excel Greater than or Equal
    • Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
    • Excel Row vs Excel Column
    • Excel Operators
    • Excel Text Compare
    • Excel Uppercase Function
    • Excel Auto Numbering
    • Watermark in Excel
    • Excel Delete Row Shortcut
    • Excel Word Count
    • Row Count in Excel
    • Excel Grade Formula
    • Excel Percentage Difference
    • Excel Rows and Columns
    • Excel Group
    • Excel Move Columns
    • Excel Row Height
    • Excel Sparklines
    • Excel Drawing a line
    • Multiple IFS in Excel
    • Excel Strikethrough
    • Numbering in Excel
    • Share Excel Workbook
    • Excel Shortcut For Merge Cells
    • Excel OneDrive
    • Excel Track changes
    • Excel Hide Formula
    • Excel Filter Shortcuts
    • Excel 3D Reference
    • Protect Excel Workbook
    • Excel Moving Averages
    • Excel Row Limit
    • Excel Absolute Value
    • Excel Print Area
    • Excel Format Painter
    • Excel Separate text
    • Excel Autofit
    • Excel Columns to Rows
    • Excel Paste Shortcut Option
    • Excel Rows to Columns
    • Excel Insert Row Shortcut
    • Excel Extensions
    • Excel Unmerge Cells
    • Divide in Excel Formula
    • Excel Compare Two Columns
    • Not Equal To Excel
    • Excel Remove Duplicates
    • Excel Remove Spaces
    • Excel Calculate Age
    • Copy Excel Sheet
    • Excel Conditional Formatting Based on Another Cell Value
    • Excel Cell Reference
    • Excel Split Cell
    • Excel Circular Reference
    • Highlight Every Other Row in Excel
    • Errors in Excel
    • Excel Delete Pivot Table
    • Excel Pivot Table
    • Subtraction in Excel
    • Count Unique Values in Excel
    • Excel Highlight Duplicates
    • Excel Data Formatting
    • Random Numbers in Excel
    • Basic Excel Formulas
    • Page Numbers in Excel
    • Excel CAGR Formula
    • Excel Combine cells
    • IFERROR with VLOOKUP in Excel
    • Column Sort in Excel
    • Print Comments in Excel
    • Cheat Sheet of Excel Formulas
    • Remove Hyperlinks in Excel
    • Excel Drop Down List
    • Remove (Delete) Blank Rows in Excel
    • Relative Reference in Excel
    • Subscript in Excel
    • Superscript in Excel
    • Excel Insert Multiple Rows
    • Excel Absolute Reference
    • Unhide Columns in Excel
  • Excel Functions (12+)
  • Excel Tools (114+)
  • Financial Functions in Excel (17+)
  • Logical Functions in Excel (14+)
  • Lookup and Reference Functions in Excel (35+)
  • Maths Function in Excel (47+)
  • TEXT and String Functions in Excel (26+)
  • Date and Time Function in Excel (24+)
  • Statistical Functions in Excel (59+)
  • Information Functions in Excel (4+)
  • Excel Charts (56+)
  • Workplace Productivity (4+)
  • Microsoft Office Tools (15+)
  • Excel Formula and Functions (22+)
  • MS Excel Shortcuts (4+)
Excel Functions Courses
  • EXCEL COURSE
  • Online Excel Data Analysis Course
  • Excel for Finance Course

Excel Circular Reference

By Madhuri ThakurMadhuri Thakur

Circular Reference in Excel

Excel Circular Reference (Table of Contents)

  • Circular Reference in Excel
  • How to Use Circular Reference in Excel?
  • Find Circular Reference in Excel

Circular Reference in Excel

Circular Reference in Excel is a kind of alert message that we can see when we are selecting the values in the form of Circle in any formula. Rectifying circular references is very important; otherwise, our applied formula will definitely end up giving us the incorrect value. For example, if we are summing the value of 5 cells into the 6th cell and we mistakenly considered the range of 6 cells, including the cell where we will be seeing the output, then although we would get the output, it will definitely be an incorrect value. We can enable or disable Circular reference from Excel Options’ Formulas section.

How to Use Circular Reference in Excel?

Using It is very simple and easy. Let’s understand the situation of the Circular Reference error with some examples.

You can download this Circular Reference Excel Template here – Circular Reference Excel Template

Example #1

  • Now, as we can see, Cell A4 and A5 have some value, and in Cell A6, we have to add those values, including the value in Cell A6 itself.

Circular Reference Example 1-1

Start Your Free Excel Course

Excel functions, formula, charts, formatting creating excel dashboard & others

  • So we enter the formula like the below screenshot.

Circular Reference Example 1-2

  • When we hit the enter key, it will display an error message, as shown below.

Circular Reference Example 1-3

  • Here if you click on OK or close the window by clicking on the cross button, Excel will take it as Zero value or the last calculated value in the cell.
  • If you click on Help, you can get more information.
  • Now, we have clicked on OK, and it will display 0 in cell A6. ( Refer to below screenshot )

Circular Reference Example 1-4

You might be surprised that in some cases, excel will complete the formula with the last calculation having a Circular reference condition without displaying an error message and returns the value in the cell.

All in One Excel VBA Bundle(120+ Courses, 30+ Projects)
Basic ExcelAdvanced ExcelVBA & MacrosExcel Dashboards
Pivot TablesStatistical FunctionsFinancial FunctionsCharts & Graphs
Price
View Courses
120+ Online Courses | 30+ Projects | 500+ Hours | Verifiable Certificates | Lifetime Access
4.9 (64,768 ratings)

In some conditions, we might require to create a circular reference while calculating. Let’s take an example to create that scenario where circular reference is required to include.

Example #2

Suppose you go to a restaurant and have lunch. You get the bill which you have to pay before leaving. The GST ( Goods and Service Tax ) on total expense is 10%, so we have to calculate the total bill.

Circular Reference Example 2-1

Here, we will apply the formula like the below screenshot.

CR Example 2-2

Here we will sum up all the Item prices and calculate the 10% on that amount. Then will add this tax amount to the total item’s price. It will give you the total expenses.

But here, Circular reference is a part of the formula; it won’t calculate the total bill. So in this situation, we need to make some changes in Excel settings for further calculation.

This scenario will display an error message as shown in the above Example 1 ( Figure 3 ).

Find Circular Reference in Excel

Follow the below steps :

  • Go to the FILE tab.
  • Click on Options in the left pane window. Then, refer to the below screenshot.

CR Example 2-3

  • It will open a dialog box for Excel options.

CR Example 2-4

  • Click on the Formulas tab.

CR Example 2-5

  • Tick on the checkbox “Enable iterative calculation”, as shown in the below screenshot.
  • Click on OK.

CR Example 2-6

  • It will calculate the Total Bill in Cell B15. Refer to the below screenshot.

CR Example 2-7

By enabling this Iterative calculation option, it will repeat the re-calculation until a specific numeric condition is met.

There are two ways to turn on this option.

We can see there are two options available under the Enable iterative calculation section, as shown in the below screenshot.

Enable Circular Reference

  • Maximum Iterations: As we can see here, the default value is 100. This means Excel will repeat the calculations 100 times and will try to solve this.
  • Maximum Change: Excel will try to repeat the calculation 100 times and stops when it finds the difference is not more than 0.001 between iterations.

Things to Remember

  • We should avoid Circular reference, the reason being, it leaves an impact on the performance and displayed a warning message every time at the time of opening the workbook.
  • It can also be the reason for other issues that are not immediately visible.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Circular Reference in Excel. Here we discuss how to find and use a circular reference in excel along with practical examples and a downloadable excel template. You can also go through our other suggested articles –

  1. SUM Function in Excel
  2. Relative Reference in Excel?
  3. Excel Absolute Reference
  4. Compare Dates in Excel
Popular Course in this category
Excel Training (23 Courses, 9+ Projects)
  23 Online Courses |  9 Hands-on Projects |  110+ Hours |  Verifiable Certificate of Completion
4.9
Price

View Course

Related Courses

Excel Data Analysis Training (17 Courses, 8+ Projects)4.9
Excel for Finance Training (18 Courses, 7+ Projects)4.8
2 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Primary Sidebar
Footer
About Us
  • Blog
  • Who is EDUCBA?
  • Sign Up
  • Live Classes
  • Corporate Training
  • Certificate from Top Institutions
  • Contact Us
  • Verifiable Certificate
  • Reviews
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  •  
Apps
  • iPhone & iPad
  • Android
Resources
  • Free Courses
  • Excel Charts
  • Excel Tips
  • All Tutorials
Certification Courses
  • All Courses
  • Excel VBA Course - All in One Bundle
  • VBA Course
  • Excel Data Analysis Course
  • Excel for Marketing Course
  • Excel for Finance Course
  • Excel for HR Training

ISO 10004:2018 & ISO 9001:2015 Certified

© 2022 - EDUCBA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CERTIFICATION NAMES ARE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

EDUCBA
Free Excel Course

Excel functions, formulas, charts, formatting creating excel dashboard & others

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA Login

Forgot Password?

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA
Free Excel Course

Excel functions, formula, charts, formatting creating excel dashboard & others

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Let’s Get Started

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA

Download Circular Reference Excel Template

EDUCBA

Download Circular Reference Excel Template

EDUCBA

डाउनलोड Circular Reference Excel Template

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to our Privacy Policy

Loading . . .
Quiz
Question:

Answer:

Quiz Result
Total QuestionsCorrect AnswersWrong AnswersPercentage

Explore 1000+ varieties of Mock tests View more