What if you run Excel formulas backwards? I found a weird shortcut for fixing spreadsheet errors.

I kept getting #REF errors in my budget spreadsheet from pulling data across sheets, so I tried switching to INDIRECT formulas and it stopped breaking every time I moved a column. Has anyone else found a cleaner fix for this kind of mess?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.xena26d ago

Ended up doing the same thing with INDIRECT after losing my mind over #REF errors. No cleaner fix that I've found, just makes everything feel a little fragile if you rename sheets.

piper91226d ago

Oh man, yeah that fragility thing bugs me too. I switched to using named ranges with INDIRECT instead of sheet names directly, which at least saves you when someone renames a tab. Still feels janky but it's been more stable for me.

caleb_stone16d ago

Wait, does that actually work? I've been too scared to try INDIRECT cause I just know I'll mess it up and send my whole workbook into a death spiral. @kim.xena sounds like you've got the same trust issues I do with that function. I swear, every time I think I've got a formula locked down, Excel finds some new way to make me look like an idiot who just discovered spreadsheets yesterday.