Making entire column in excel into absolute reference

If it is actually the formula you need to copy and not just the data (paste values will do that in one click) and Bob Jones suggestion for =A1 drug down won't work, you might be able to use FIND/REPLACE to add the $ signs into the formulas for the column.  This will depend on the formula you are using because you will have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL that the string you choose to find occurs nowhere else in any of the cells/formulas in the column.  I have done this by including unique symbols that will only be found in a certain pattern in the formula.  For example:

FIND:   (A

REPLACE WITH:   ($A$

Other symbols that would create a unique pattern could be equal signs or other comparison signs, commas, colons, close parentheses, quotation marks, etc.  You may need to identify more than one unique string to make all of the necessary changes in your formulas.  If you can identify these unique strings you can change the entire column at once for each string.

I am an Excel user like you and participate here to help others.  If this answers your question please mark this response as the answer.  If you still have questions, please reply again, but more information about the formulas you are using will probably be needed.

Rich~M

Please clarify: Apparently the cells you want to copy contain formulas. What isn't clear is whether you want to paste the formulas, themselves [which seems redundant] or whether you want to paste only the results those formulas are returning at the time you copy the cells.

AFAIK there is no built-in method of simultaneously converting cell references in multiple cells to absolute references. Changing all of the original formulas at once would require a macro.

One alternative: If the source cells are, e.g., A1:A10 & you want the same results in X1:X10 enter the formula =A1 in cell X1 then copy it down to X10.

If you want the static values only, copy the source range then in the starting cell of the destination use Edit> Paste Special - Values or Values and number formats.

Actually, I totally agree with Bob Jones, and =A1 drug down is the way I would normally handle what I believe the question is most likely trying to ask which is why I made reference to his answer as a first choice.  However, I'm not prepared to say that there would never be a situation where someone might have a reason to actually replicate the formulas so I presented an alternate possibility in that event.

Rich~M

The overriding point is that converting the source column to absolute references just for the sake of being able to copy them to another column is an unnecessary waste of time, not to mention the potential danger in attempting to do so [as you, yourself, pointed out].

The expressed result can be easily accomplished by simply entering the same formula in the new column & copying it down.

However, there really is no need to replicate the original formulas in the new column in the first place. The suggestion I made creates formula links to the original cells providing the same outcome: The same result returned in the source cells will be displayed.

hi, please share your sample data and exact result with exact cell address, so that it would be helpful for us to understand clearly.