Here's how to create conditional formatting rules based on cell references in Excel:

1. Select the cells: Choose the range of cells where you want to apply the conditional formatting.

2. Go to Conditional Formatting: Navigate to the "Home" tab and find the "Styles" group. Click the dropdown arrow under "Conditional Formatting" and choose "New Rule..."

3. "Use a formula to determine which cells to format" option: In the "New Formatting Rule" window, select the option "Use a formula to determine which cells to format."

4. Enter your formula: In the box below "Format values where this formula is true," enter your formula using cell references.

- Examples:
- Highlight cells greater than the value in cell B1: `=A1>B1` (This will highlight cells in column A that are greater than the value in cell B1)
- Format cells containing text from cell C2: `=A1=C2` (This will format cells in column A that contain the exact same text as cell C2)

5. Format the cells: Click the "Format..." button to choose how you want to format the cells that meet your formula condition. You can change font color, fill color, borders, and more.

6. Click OK: Click "OK" on both the "Format Cells" and "New Formatting Rule" windows to apply the conditional formatting with your cell references.

Tips:

* You can use comparison operators like "<", ">", "=", "<=", ">=", and "<>" in your formulas.
* Cell references are relative by default. This means if you copy the rule to other cells, the references will adjust accordingly. You can use absolute references by pressing F4 after entering the cell address to lock it to a specific location.
* Conditional formatting can be very powerful with formulas. You can combine logical operators (AND, OR) and text functions to create complex rules based on various cell references.