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When a formula (formula: A sequence of values, cell references, names, functions, or operators in a cell that together produce a new value. A formula always begins with an equal sign (=).) refers back to its own cell, either directly or indirectly, it is called a circular reference. Microsoft Excel cannot automatically calculate all open workbooks when one of them contains a circular reference. You can remove a circular reference, or you can have Excel calculate each cell involved in the circular reference once by using the results of the previous iteration (iteration: Repeated calculation of a worksheet until a specific numeric condition is met.). Unless you change the default settings for iteration, Excel stops calculating after 100 iterations or after all values in the circular reference change by less than 0.001 between iterations, whichever comes first.

Locate and remove a circular reference

Make a circular reference work by changing the number of times Microsoft Excel iterates formulas