absolute cell references

[Chazz]

I've got monthly expense numbers in one workbook I need to
compare to monthly expense numbers in another workbook. I
insert a new column to calculate the differences in one of
the worksheets. Then I simply click to create the formula
that subtracts the expenses in the current workbook from
the expenses in the other workbook. Here's the problem.
I'd like to set up one cell with the difference and then
just copy it to fill in the rest of the months, right?
Well, for some reason, when I create the first cell, it
refers to the other workbook using an absolute cell
reference. Does anyone know how to turn that off without
always having to use F4? I would prefer the default
action to be a non-absolute cell reference.

Thanks!
Chazz

 

[Dave Peterson]

This may not be a good fit for you, but if you copy (or move) the other
worksheet into the same workbook, then the default goes to relative addressing.
(Worksheets in different workbooks default to absolute addressing--like you
noticed.)

A lot of times, I'll copy that sheet into my workbook, do my formulas, convert
to values and delete that sheet. (Without too much testing (ok, absolutely
none), I get the feeling that calculation works faster when the data is in one
workbook. But that might just be my imagination.)