#REF! after you delete a cell in Google Sheets

#REF! after a delete means the reference itself is gone. The formula is not looking in the wrong place. The cell, row, or column it named no longer exists, so Sheets replaced that name with #REF!.

Recreate it on a blank sheet

1. Open a blank spreadsheet. In A1 type 10. In A2 type 20. In C1 enter =A1+A2. The cell shows 30. The formula sits on row 1 so deleting row 2 does not delete the formula cell.
2. Right-click row 2 (the row that holds 20) → Delete row. Do not delete row 1 — that would take C1 with it. C1 shows #REF!.
3. Select C1 and read the formula bar. It is not =A1+A2 anymore. It is =A1+#REF!. A2 was the cell you removed. Sheets does not point that operand at some other row.

That is the tell: #REF! is inside the formula, not only the cell value.

Second recreate — delete the cells, not the row. Undo so A1 is 10, A2 is 20, C1 is =A1+A2 again. Select A1:A2. Right-click → Delete cells → Shift up. C1 stays in C1 (you deleted cells in column A only). C1 is #REF!. The formula bar is =#REF!+#REF!. Both addresses are gone.

Leave C1 broken so the error stays on the sheet.

What is actually wrong

• A2 was a real cell. Deleting row 2 removed that cell. Every formula that still named A2 lost that name. C1 still exists; only the A2 operand died.
• Sheets does not guess a replacement. A1 is still 10. Nothing takes the place of A2 inside the formula. The dead reference stays #REF! until you edit it.
• Deleting a column the formula used is the same error. =Sheet2!A1 after you delete Sheet2 is the same error. The pattern is: the thing the formula pointed at is gone.
• Deleting a row in the middle of a range usually shrinks the range (A1:A5 becomes A1:A4). That is not this error. This error is when the referenced cell is removed entirely, or you delete in a way that leaves no valid address.

This is not a circular formula. A loop still shows the original cell names in the formula bar (=A1+A2 in A2) and the tooltip is Circular dependency detected. See circular dependency.

This is not VLOOKUP asking for a column the range does not have. That formula still looks like =VLOOKUP(D2,A2:B2,3,FALSE). The index is too big. Nothing was deleted. See VLOOKUP bad index.

This is not a UNIQUE spill hitting a blocked cell, and not IMPORTRANGE waiting for Allow access. Those #REF! values keep a readable formula. After a delete, the formula bar contains #REF!.

Fix

Undo first if the delete was a mistake. Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) restores the cells and the original references. That is the clean fix when you still want those cells.

Rewrite if the delete was intended. Point the formula at the cells that still exist. After the row-2 delete above, A1 is still 10 and the 20 is gone. In C2 enter =A1. The cell shows 10. Leave C1 as #REF! so you can compare the formula bar: C1 still has #REF! in the formula; C2 does not.

Do not delete mid-range carelessly. If other formulas sum or look up that block, delete only what you mean to remove, or clear values instead of deleting cells. Clearing A1 (Delete / Backspace) leaves the address. =A1+A2 becomes 0+20 or 10+20 with a blank treated as zero — not #REF!. Delete is what destroys the address.

If you need a total that survives row inserts and deletes, point at a stable range you control, and do not delete the cells that range is built from unless you are ready to rewrite every dependent formula.

Read the formula bar. If you see #REF! in the formula text, restore or rewrite the reference. If the formula text is intact, this is a different #REF!.