Excel - How to remove a link?

Hello, you can also use a more artisanal method, but 100% effective

You search (Ctrl+F) for the character "[" making sure to look in the entire workbook.
And there you will see the cells that contain links, because a link always starts with [File location...]Cell reference...

There you go!

There is another solution:

Save the file under the same name (and in the same location) as the linked file.

I still use Excel 97 and I encountered these links
that were impossible to remove, and then I managed as follows:

simply by opening the Excel file in OpenOffice,
which allows breaking the link with:

File/Links/Break Link
You save it and reopen it in Excel format.

Very simple.

I FOUND IT !!!
None of what was said here worked, in fact I have graphs, I had modified the data sources so that there were no more links to another file BUT, when you right-click/data sources, it’s not the same as left-clicking then graphical menu data sources, and there we see an additional series containing links to the other file to be modified or deleted.
And it works....

Hello,

it's not about doing any searches in the formulas but using the Edit/Find feature and specifying in the options that you're working on the workbook, on the formulas, without case sensitivity and not in whole cell.

Before doing this search, you don't mention anything about any hidden tabs or defined names. Have you checked them?

Finally, if your workbook isn’t top secret and once zipped it is less than 250Ko, upload it to http://www.cjoint.com so we can take a look.

Cheers!

Good evening Pachino,

According to your version of Excel: go to Edit / Links
You can see the links and break them if necessary.

Hello,
For people like me who don't have a version of Excel that offers to break links in the Edit/Links menu...
You actually need to go to Edit/Links/ and choose Change Source. At that point, just leave the field where you would normally enter a new file name blank and click OK.
See you!

Otherwise, simpler:

In Edit/Links > Change Source. There, you select the current file! And there you go, no more external links!

Hello,

I carefully read all these good responses. For my part, I found the stubborn links in my list areas in Data --> Data Validation. To identify them, click on "Circle Invalid Data."
This resolved my issue with links that were impossible to break otherwise.

I have already experienced the problems and solutions presented in posts <1> to <9>.
But I still have a stubborn link:

- impossible to break it
- I checked all the 'names' and their references, no trace of the stubborn link
- I tried 'modifying the source' and pointing to myself, i.e., the file from which the link originates (it works sometimes!)

...nothing works.

Can someone help me?
Just in case, know that my link points to an intranet link.

Thank you very much!

I faced the same problem. I removed all formulas, all macros, everything, and that link to an external file remained. Let's say I was working in A and the link pointed to B.

At first, I noticed that the solution of pointing the file to itself worked. However, I wasn't sure that by mistake, I hadn't pointed some formulas in A to B. I was therefore worried about pointing A to itself and thus erasing formulas pointing to B, making my file incorrect. Apparently, pointing A to itself crashes if some formulas in A reference B. But it's not certain that this applies to everything (plus, when you point to another file C, it doesn't crash, so there you go)

I found that if you define a new formula in A to this unwanted page (B).
You go to links, and redefine the link to the own name A of the file. It bugs once. "The formula contains an invalid external reference" - OK
Then you delete the formula you just added in A that points to B.
At that moment, the link disappears if no other formula was pointing to B.
Thus, the problem is resolved automatically, with certainty of no issue with any formulas possibly pointing to B, as then the link does not disappear.
DDEF

Hello,
Like all of you, I am struggling with a link problem in Excel. I have a file A that requires updating with a file B. The problem is that this file B no longer exists.
I can't find the cells that have this link using the search function.
I can't remove it through the Edit/Link menu.
I pointed to another existing file B', but it doesn't give me any more indication of the lingering cells!
I have deleted all the ghost names (thanks for the info).

I have been using these files for a long time, they have been copied for use in another form, I've made multiple modifications ... and these ghost links are remnants of previous versions...
How can I find the ghost cells containing these links? How can I get rid of these dangerous links?
Thank you in advance for your guidance.
Chantal

Good evening,

and when you have the name of the linked file, you search in the formulas across all the tabs.
Check the names as well and if there are any hidden tabs.

best regards

Hello everyone,

1) Indeed, I messed up, it's Edition / Links.
Excel version 97
We can look at the source file (path) but unfortunately, we cannot break the link.

2) I have the name of the linked file and I have already searched through the formulas, but I don't see the name of the linked file at all in the formulas.

This problem is not simple; I know a bit about Excel because I've built a few applications, but with this problem for years (!), I haven't found the solution and I was curious to hear opinions from other users. So I'm still searching.

In fact, by "feeling it out" or tinkering, we should be able to achieve it, but what I'm looking for is a method.

Good evening,

did you do as instructed in posts <1> and <2> or just as in <5>?

See you+

Thank you, Pachino, I had the same problem!

Hello,

I have a bit of the same issue, only I just want to remove the message asking me if I want to update the workbook... while keeping those links. I've tried different codes in VBE (Autoupdatelinks, linkupdate = true, etc.) but it doesn't work!!!!

Can someone help me???

Thanks

Hello everyone, I see that quite a few people are looking for a solution for links in Excel files. I don't have the miracle solution, but it works anyway.
I'm trying to translate from my English version.
In Options / Edit uncheck the box that corresponds to "ask to update links". And there you go, no more need to find the right file.

Good luck,

Seb

Hey kids... why don't you ask the question to Microchiotte???

https://support.microsoft.com/fr-fr/help/288851

toud'bon