Circular Reference Error

[NewUser2]

Hi, When I open my workbook I'm getting the following message (and then subsequently every time i try to do anything...):

"Microsoft excel cannot calculate a formula. There is a circular reference in an open workbook, but the references that cause it cannot be listed for you. Try editing the last formula you entered or removing it...".
- Only option is 'Okay'

Now, i just opened the workbook and this started happening. There's no option to press undo. As far as i know, no formulas calculating to outside workbooks...

And no, going to 'Error checking' doesnt work. There's no option to click the circular reference button.

Any suggestions anyone?

 

[mole999]

usually you will see it in the status bar

 

[jasonb75]

Same question came up yesterday, check for a named range that you don't recognise.

Don't quote me on this, I could just be remembering parts of different anomalies and getting them mixed up, but I do remember this happening previously and I have it in mind that the cause was a named range automatically created by using advanced filters. (or something similar).

 

[NewUser2]

usually you will see it in the status bar

Nope, not there

 

[NewUser2]

Same question came up yesterday, check for a named range that you don't recognise.

Don't quote me on this, I could just be remembering parts of different anomalies and getting them mixed up, but I do remember this happening previously and I have it in mind that the cause was a named range automatically created by using advanced filters. (or something similar).

Just tried looking there, it's not my workbook and there are a lot of named ranges... so i dont want to delete any. And, the main user of this workbook isn't too big into Excel... so I don't want to push this question to them.

Just visually reviewing the named ranges, nothing seems 'off'.

 

[mole999]

you might try ASAP Utilities

 

[jasonb75]

See if anything here helps.

How to Remove Circular References in Excel

A circular reference in Excel occurs when a formula refers directly to its own cell or to another cell that, through a chain of references, refers back to the formula's cell. You will often want to hunt them down and eliminate them as errors. In some cases, they're useful for iterative calculations.

smallbusiness.chron.com

 

[NewUser2]

See if anything here helps.

How to Remove Circular References in Excel

A circular reference in Excel occurs when a formula refers directly to its own cell or to another cell that, through a chain of references, refers back to the formula's cell. You will often want to hunt them down and eliminate them as errors. In some cases, they're useful for iterative calculations.

smallbusiness.chron.com

That like just directs you to using the error checking function for circular references, which doesnt work in my case.
Thanks though

 

[NewUser2]

you might try ASAP Utilities

That wont work. Can't download these add-ins on my work computer.

 

[jasonb75]

Without seeing the actual file I'm out of ideas. Given that this would most likely be impossible, the best thing that I can suggest would be to make a few copies of the file and start removing things until the error goes away. Once that happens, it would be safe to say that the last thing removed was the cause, which will narrow down the investigation.