I don't understand why the following causes an error: Put 0 in cells A1 and A2. Put the formula =A2 in cell A3. Cut cell A1 and paste it into cell A2. Cell A3 then shows a #REF! error.

What's in A2 and A3 after you paste?

0 in A2; =#REF! in A3.

Ohhhh...I see what happens. I suppose what is happening is that Excel now sees the reference to A2 in the formula as sort of disappearing. I know that doesn't make sense. Hopefully someone else will that can explain it better.

That's interesting!

You'll have to ask MS. Following site describes your error. As to why MS implemented it, I don't know

https://support.office.com/en-gb/art...1-92b0ec269e82


@ gebobs : long time no see , glad you're back . Still sore at the key?

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Yeah, I haven't had a lot of time lately. :-)

The key?

Ohhhh...Excel Key! Right.

No, I was never sore at the key. I vaguely remember some incident, but that water has long passed under my bridge.

I pop in from time to time.