When a formula refers back to its own cell, either directly or indirectly, it is called a circular reference. Microsoft Office Excel cannot automatically calculate all open workbooks when one of them contains a circular reference. You can remove a circular reference, or you can have Excel calculate each cell involved in the circular reference once by using the results of the previous iteration . Unless you change the default settings for iteration, Excel stops calculating after 100 iterations or after all values in the circular reference change by less than 0.001 between iterations, whichever comes first.What do you want to do?

Locate and remove a circular reference

  1. On the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the arrow on the Error Checking in-group button, point to Circular References, and then click the first cell listed in the submenu.

    Tip You can move between cells in a circular reference by double-clicking the tracer arrows.

  2. Review the formula in the cell. If you cannot determine whether the cell is the cause of the circular reference, click the next cell in the Circular References submenu.

    Note The status bar displays the word "Circular," followed by a reference to one of the cells contained in the circular reference. If the word "Circular" appears without a cell reference, the active worksheet does not contain the circular reference.

  3. Continue to review and correct the circular reference until the status bar no longer displays the word "Circular."

Make a circular reference work by changing the number of times that Excel iterates formulas

  1. Click the Microsoft Office Button button image, click Excel Options, and then click the Formulas category.
  2. In the Calculation options section, select the Enable iterative calculation check box.
  3. To set the maximum number of times that Excel will recalculate, type the number of iterations in the Maximum Iterations box. The higher the number of iterations, the more time that Excel needs to calculate a worksheet.
  4. To set the maximum amount of change you will accept between calculation results, type the amount in the Maximum Change box. The smaller the number, the more accurate the result and the more time that Excel needs to calculate a worksheet.