How to Insert Dollar Sign in Excel Formula (3 Handy Methods)

Assume you have the following dataset. It contains sales from two different stores and their total.

Insert Dollar Sign ($) in Excel Formula

The FORMULATEXT function shows that the Total column contains formulas with the SUM function.

Method 1 – Insert a Dollar Sign ($) in Excel Formula with a Keyboard Shortcut

Steps

Put the cursor before a cell reference in the formula or select that cell reference in the formula bar.

Insert Dollar Sign ($) in Excel Formula with Keyboard Shortcut

Alternatively, you can double-click on the cell containing the formula to insert the dollar sign there.

Press F4 on your keyboard.
This will insert the dollar sign in the formula, making the cell reference an absolute reference.

Insert Dollar Sign ($) in Excel Formula with Keyboard Shortcut

Press F4, and the reference changes to a mixed reference making the row fixed but keeping the column relative.

Insert Dollar Sign ($) in Excel Formula with Keyboard Shortcut

Press F4 again to make the column fix but the row becomes relative.

Insert Dollar Sign ($) in Excel Formula with Keyboard Shortcut

Pressing F4 again returns the reference to a relative reference.
You can select multiple references and press the F4 key to change them.

Method 2 – Use the Find and Replace Tool

Steps

The formula text shows no dollar signs in the formulas.

Press Ctrl + H to open the Find and Replace window.
In Find what, put (B.
In Replace with, insert ($B$.
Press Replace All as shown in the picture below.

You will see the confirmation if it was done properly.

Here’s how the formula text changes.

Repeat to find :C and replace with :$C$ as shown below.

Use the Find and Replace Tool

More dollar signs will be added to the remaining part of the formulas.

Method 3 – Use VBA Code to Insert Dollar Signs ($) in Formula

Steps

Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA window.
Select Insert and choose Module from the window ribbon.

Copy and paste the following code into the Module.

Sub InsertDollarSignsInExcelFormulas()
Dim FormulaCell As Range
For Each FormulaCell In ActiveSheet.Cells.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas)
FormulaCell.Formula = Application.ConvertFormula(FormulaCell.Formula, xlA1, xlA1, True)
Next
End Sub

Press F5 to run the code.

Use a VBA Code to Insert Dollar Sign ($) in Formula

Things to Remember

If your computer has the Fn key, you may need to press Fn + F4 for the shortcut.
The VBA code changes the cell references to absolute references only by inserting the dollar sign.

Download the Practice Workbook

Insert Dollar Sign in Formula.xlsm