In Microsoft Excel, criteria can be set by typing the exact value that is desired in the criteria cells, or by using cell references or defined names. 

Important: Quotation marks must be used. Otherwise, Excel interprets the information as "greater than "$D$1"" where "$D$1" is a text string. The same applies for a defined name.

To use the value of cell D1 as the criteria, type the following formula in the criteria cell:

=$D$1

To use the value of a defined name, such as "CritVar", type the following formula in the criteria cell:

=CritVar

To use the operators, such as less than (), the operator must be concatenated with the formula. For example, to specify a match of greater than the value in cell D1, type the following formula in the criteria cell:

=">"&$D$1

To specify a match of greater than or equal to a cell defined as "GVAR", type the following formula in the criteria cell:

=">="&GVAR