Need help with cell value...

I have in cell D5 .. the letters A1

and I am using =MAX(D5:A3)

But I need the D5 to be "whats in the contents"

so excel sees it as

=Max(A1:A3)

what do I use for this?? $D5? $D$5

I cant remember how to make a cells value be the actual Figure used in the Function.. and not the cell number itself.

Thanks.

I must be experiencing deja vu again, either that or the mods deleted me, wouldn't be the first time......

...but I answered this once already tonight I'm sure....

Try INDIRECT, e.g.

=MAX(INDIRECT(D5):A3)

yep they erased the whole thing..

thanks for the answer TWICE! you rock