There are one or more circular references where a formula refers to its own cell either directly or indirectly

... we've all been there: you open a workbook from your colleague, and there it appears, the dreaded message:

How to solve this error message?

There are one or more circular references where a formula refers to its own cell either directly or indirectly

How to solve it?

Simple! Just follow this guide step by step:

1. Open the "Formulas" tab
2. Click on the little arrow right of "Error-checking"
3. Hover on "Circular References"
4. Click on a reference, such as $L$15 in the picture below
5. You are now taken to the cell containing the circular reference!!

Next, you will want to "fix" the formula. This can be as simple as deleting it, or as hard as having to rewrite it better...

To help you in this task, you can use an Excel addin to help you investigate how the formula works and what it does. This is what we've built Modulate for!

You can see in the right hand panel the SUMIF being described in details, and which line item this formula is used for!