A circular reference in Excel is a situation where a formula refers to its own cell or refers to a cell thats dependent on the formulas result. This creates an infinite loop that Excel cant complete, and it usually results in a circular reference warning message. Circular references can be intentional or unintentional, and they can be problematic for most users because they break the formula, preventing it from outputting a result. However, there may be some rare cases when using a circular reference in Excel is the only possible solution for the task at hand.

To find and remove circular references in Excel, you can follow these steps:

1. Review the formula in the cell to determine whether its the cause of the circular reference.
2. Select the next cell in the Circular References submenu if you cant determine the cause of the circular reference.
3. Continue to review and correct the circular references in the workbook by repeating steps 1 through 3 until the status bar no longer displays "Circular References."

Excel also provides some features to help you locate circular references in your workbook:

• The status bar in the lower-left corner displays "Circular References" and the cell address of one circular reference.
• You can move between cells in a circular reference by double-clicking the tracer arrow. The arrow indicates the cell that affects the value of the currently selected cell.
• You can use the Error checking feature of Excel to find and fix circular references.

Its important to note that circular references can cause performance issues and a warning message displayed on every opening of a workbook, unless iterative calculations are on. Therefore, its generally recommended to avoid circular references whenever possible.