Absolute Reference Shortcut in Google Sheets

When you copy or drag a formula in Google Sheets, the cell references inside it shift to match the new spot. Most of the time that’s exactly what you want.

But sometimes the formula points at a lookup table, a tax rate, or any value that shouldn’t move when the formula moves. You need to lock that reference in place. That’s what an absolute reference is for.

You can add the dollar signs by typing them in. But there’s a single key that does it for you.

Absolute Reference Keyboard Shortcut in Google Sheets

Absolute Reference Keyboard Shortcut (Windows Windows)

F4

Absolute Reference Keyboard Shortcut (Mac Mac)

F4

What this shortcut does

With your cursor sitting inside a cell reference in a formula, pressing the shortcut adds or removes the dollar signs around that reference.

Each press moves to the next state:

  1. A1 (no lock, the default)
  2. $A$1 (column and row both locked)
  3. A$1 (row locked, column moves)
  4. $A1 (column locked, row moves)
  5. Back to A1

Four presses bring you back to where you started. Stop on whichever one fits what you need.

How to use it (step by step)

  1. Click the cell with the formula. Press F2 to enter edit mode, or double-click the cell.
  2. Click inside the cell reference you want to lock. Your cursor has to be on the reference text itself, not on a comma or space next to it.
  3. Press the shortcut. Dollar signs appear in front of both the column letter and the row number.
  4. Press it again to cycle to row-only lock, then column-only lock, then back to plain.
  5. Press Enter to save the formula.

A quick example. You’re writing a VLOOKUP and the formula reads =VLOOKUP(A2, B2:D10, 2, FALSE).

Click inside B2:D10 and hit the shortcut once. The range becomes $B$2:$D$10.

Drag the formula down the column and the lookup range stays put. Only A2 shifts to A3, A4, and so on.

Alternative method (type the dollar signs)

If the shortcut isn’t doing anything (more on why in the next section), you can type the dollar signs in by hand:

  • A $ before the column letter locks the column: $A1
  • A $ before the row number locks the row: A$1
  • A $ in front of both locks the whole cell: $A$1

Slower for a long formula, but it works on any keyboard. It’s also your only option on the mobile app.

Things to watch for

  • Mac function key behaviour. On a lot of Macs, F4 is wired to a system action like Launchpad or Spotlight by default. If pressing it does nothing inside your formula, hold the Fn key with it. To make F4 always behave as a plain function key, go to System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Function Keys, and turn on the option to use F1, F2 and so on as standard function keys.
  • You have to be editing the formula. Just clicking the cell isn’t enough. The shortcut only works when the cell is in edit mode and your cursor is sitting inside the formula text.
  • Cursor placement matters. If your cursor lands between two references (say, on the comma in A1,B1), nothing happens. Click on the part of the reference you actually want to lock.
  • F4 doesn’t “redo” in Sheets. In a few other apps, F4 repeats the last action. In Sheets it does the reference toggle and nothing else, and only while a formula is open.
  • If you came over from Excel. Same key, same behaviour. Your muscle memory carries over.

Google Sheets keyboard shortcuts

Related Google Sheets shortcuts: