Finding Circular References

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 11, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365


3

When Michael opens a particular workbook, Excel informs him that it contains circular references. Problem is, Michael cannot figure out where that circular reference is. So, he is looking for the best way to locate these.

There are actually two ways you can easily locate any circular references. Here's the first:

  1. Display the Formulas tab of the ribbon.
  2. In the Formula Auditing group, click the Error Checking tool. Excel displays a drop-down list.
  3. Choose Circular References. Excel displays a list of all the circular references in your worksheet.

At this point you have a couple of options. You can jot down the cell addresses that contain circular references, or you can simply click on one of the addresses. If you choose the latter option, you are taken to that cell and you can make any changes necessary. You can then repeat the above steps until all the circular references are resolved. If you choose the former option, then simply go to each of the cells in the jotted-down list and make changes to resolve the references.

There is another way you can locate circular references. Note that when you open the workbook—after dismissing the notification about the circular references—near the bottom-left corner of the workbook you'll see a "Ready" indicator on the Status bar. Just to the right of that there should be an indicator of the first circular reference in the active worksheet. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Circular references are noted on the Status bar.

If you know your workbook has circular references but you don't see the indicator, it could be on a different worksheet. Click through each worksheet until you see the notation. You can then go to the indicated cell and change the formula to get rid of the circular reference.

You should note that it is possible to instruct Excel to allow circular references. (They are valid in some scenarios.) This is done by changing the Enable Iterative Calculation check box on the Formula tab of the Excel Options dialog box. If this option is enabled, you will never see a notice about circular references, and you won't be able to locate any in the workbook. Why? Well, because you told Excel it was OK for them to be there and, thus, they are not an error.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13701) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Goal Seeking

Excel provides a great tool that is helpful in figuring out what certain variables should be in your formulas. This tip ...

Discover More

Insert AutoText Tool Unavailable on Header and Footer Toolbar

When creating headers or footers, you might notice at some time that the "Insert AutoText" tool on the Header and Footer ...

Discover More

Pasting a Graphic to Multiple Worksheets

Do you need to add a logo or other graphic to a bunch of worksheets? Here are a couple of short macros that can make ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Cell Address of a Maximum Value

Finding the maximum value in a range of cells is easy; finding the address of the cell containing that value is a ...

Discover More

Deriving Antilogs

Creating math formulas is a particular strong point of Excel. Not all the functions that you may need are built directly ...

Discover More

Calculating the Interval between Occurrences

With a long list of items in a worksheet, you may want to determine the last time a particular item appeared in the list. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 + 1?

2025-01-15 23:38:55

Peter

Long live circular references.
I used to use them for many modelling tasks, like working out equilibrium compositions of mixtures, emulating process controllers, modelling entire chemical plants... Is there a better or more intuitive way?


2025-01-14 12:33:00

J. Woolley

For more on this subject, see https://excelribbon.tips.net/T013532_Enabling_Circular_References_by_Default.html
and https://excelribbon.tips.net/T009748_Iterating_Circular_References.html
My Excel Toolbox includes the following dynamic array function to list all application properties:
    =ListAppProperties([SkipIgnored], [SkipHeader])
This formula will return the iteration option's status (TRUE if enabled, FALSE if disabled):
    =VLOOKUP("Iteration", ListAppProperties(), 2)
The iteration option uses two properties, MaxChange and MaxIterations. These formulas will return those values:
    =VLOOKUP("MaxChange", ListAppProperties(), 2)
    =VLOOKUP("MaxIterations", ListAppProperties(), 2)
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/


2025-01-11 06:48:52

Alex Blakenburg

Note: Enabling Iterative Calculations needs to come with a warning. It is an application level setting which impacts all open workbooks and will continue to do so until you turn it off again. It means that you will not notified of formulas that have errors in them that cause them to loop and the fact that they loop can grind your Excel to a crawl.


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.