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Important:
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When you break a link to the source workbook of an external reference, all formulas that use the value in the source workbook are converted to their current values. For example, if you break the link to the external reference =SUM([Budget.xls]Annual!C10:C25), the SUM formula is replaced by the calculated value—whatever that may be. Also, because this action cannot be undone, you may want to save a version of the destination workbook as a backup.
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If you use an external data range, a parameter in the query may be using data from another workbook. You may want to check for and remove any of these type of links.
Break a link
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On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Edit Links.
Note: The Edit Links command is unavailable if your file does not contain linked information.
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In the Source list, click the link that you want to break.
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To select multiple linked objects, hold down the CTRL key, and click each linked object.
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To select all links, press Ctrl+A.
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Click Break Link.
Delete the name of a defined link
If the link used a defined name, the name is not automatically removed. You may want to delete the name as well, by following these steps:
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On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Name Manager.
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In the Name Manager dialog box, click the name that you want to change.
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Click the name to select it.
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Click Delete.
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Click OK.
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If you cannot break links in Excel® then follow these steps (backup your file first):
- Unprotect each sheet in your problem file: HOME RIBBON – (CELLS) FORMAT – PROTECT SHEETS
- Break links: DATA RIBBON – (CONNECTIONS) EDIT LINKS – Select sheet then BREAK LINK
- Delete all named ranges to external files: FORMULA RIBBON – (DEFINED NAMES) NAME MANAGER
- Check all chart series ranges: Right click chart – SELECT DATA – (SERIES) EDIT. Check each series, if any ranges are in external files then cut the range from the external file and paste in to problem file. Also check chart titles and data label ranges.
- Check Conditional Formats and Data Validation for similar phantom links.
- Save a copy of the problem file then:
- Rename it in file explorer: changing the extension from .xlsx to .zip.
- Navigate to the folder ‘FILENAME.zip>xl’ file and delete the folder named ‘externalLinks’.
- Rename the ZIP file from extension .zip to .xlsx
- Save the file as file type ‘xls’ then back to ‘xlsx’ (or whatever the original file type was). Create a backup before trying this.
Some of these problems can be fixed with our add-in: fix and speed up Excel® files tools ADD-IN.
Lets go through each of those steps in more detail to make sure you can break links.
1. Unprotect Sheets in your Problem File
a) When the active sheet is protected and you try to edit links the BREAK LINK button will be grayed out. You will need to unprotect this sheet or go to another sheet before you try and break links.
b) If a cell within a protected sheet is linked to an external file then you won’t be able to break links. Excel® will give you a warning that the external link cannot be broken due to the sheet being protected.
Excel® won’t be helpful enough to tell you which sheet contains the external link so you may need to go searching for it. You can use our audit tools to find all cells with external links.
If you are using Excel® 2010 or later you can go to FILE – INFO. Under PROTECT WORKBOOK at the top you will see a list of any protected sheets.
Once all the sheet are unprotected you can go on the next step.
2. Attempt to Break Links
This step will succeed in breaking links unless there are “phantom links” with the workbook. We will come to these later.
The Break Link function replaces the external links in any formulas with constant values.
If you want to identify all cells with references to external workbooks before you carry out this process you can do so:
- Press CTRL+F
- Type “xl*]” in the ‘Find what:’ box (don’t include the inverted commas in the box)
- Select ‘Within:’ Workbook
- Select ‘Look in:’ Formulas
- Click ‘Find All’
You can now check the list of links before you proceed.
To break links click DATA RIBBON – (CONNECTIONS sub menu) EDIT LINKS
You will see a list of external links that your current file is linking to. You can click each of the files and then click BREAK LINK.
If BREAK LINK is grayed out then go back to step 1 as you must still have a protected sheet in your workbook.
Hopefully you have now broken links successfully. However, if you still cannot break the Excel® link then you need to proceed to the next step.
3. Delete Named Ranges to External Files
This is the most common type of phantom link. It is possible that named ranges used by a file are defined as a range of cells in an external workbook.
You can check these easily and delete any that refer to external files.
Click on FORMULA RIBBON – (DEFINED NAMES) NAME MANAGER
Select each named range that refers to an external workbook and click DELETE. If there are many named ranges then you may want to sort them by ‘Refers To’. This will group links to the same external file.
You can delete more than one named range at a time. Select one, hold shift then select the one at the end of the range you want to delete.
Note: you could use the file fix and speed up tools to delete named ranges to external files. With the tool you can choose to omit open files when deleting links to external files.
Go back to check EDIT LINKS to see if this has resolved your phantom link problem. If you still cannot break link then go on the next step.
4. Delete Chart External Links
It is possible that some of the series data used by an Excel® chart has been moved to an external file. This will create a phantom link.
Check if your file has any charts. It is possible that your workbook has hidden sheets so you may need to unhide them and check these for charts as well.
If FILE-INFO is saying there are still hidden sheets then your file may have sheets that are ‘Very Hidden’. This is unlikely unless you or someone else has set the sheet ‘Visible’ property to xlVeryHidden in the Visual Basic Editor. Click FILE – CHECK FOR ISSUES – INSPECT DOCUMENT to find any hidden sheets. You can either click to remove the sheets. Or you can unhide them in the Visual Basic Editor (click ALT+F11). In the VBE you can click on the hidden sheet then change its visible property to xlVisible.
In each chart. Right click the chart then ‘SELECT DATA’. Click on each series then ‘EDIT’.
If you see a link to an external file in the name or values then you have found some phantom links. Go to this data in the external file, cut it and paste it in your problem workbook next to the chart.
If you’ve already tried to BREAK LINKS to this file then instead of the file and range (above), all you will is a list of values (below).
If this is the case then you’ll still need to cut the cells from the external file and paste in your problem workbook. The difficulty is going to be finding the cells. You don’t have a range reference in this case.
Also check the chart titles and other chart elements for external links such as this:
Other Non-Chart Objects
Other objects such as form controls or linked images may reference external files. You can check these as well before you go to the next step.
4a. Delete any external links in Conditional Formats.
UPDATE: Some links to external files can be hidden in any Excel feature that can reference sheet ranges. These features include Conditional Formats. (Thanks to Roger, Yuri and others in the comments for these additions)
Go through each sheet and select every cell. Click CTRL+A
From {Home} menu. In the {Styles} section click on {Conditional Formatting} then {Manage Rules…}.
For each of those rules: click on it then {Edit Rule…}. You’ll need to check there are no references to external files in there. If there are then then amend or delete the rule. You can learn more about conditional formatting here if needed.
You can follow a similar process for Data Validation if you still have external links. To find data validation in a sheet you need to go to the {Home} menu then within the {Editing} section click on {Find & Select} then {Go to Special}. Now select {Data Validation} then click {OK}.
If you still cannot break links then try this:
5. Save a copy of the problem file.
This is the last resort if you cannot break links in Excel®. But this will resolve any remaining phantom link problems.
The downside is that this method is breaking external links without actually finding them. There is a chance this will impact the functionality of your workbook.
This method goes in to the file structure within the workbook to remove the link data.
- Create a copy of the file in which you are trying to remove the links
- In file explorer: right click this new file and RENAME
- Change the extension from .xlsx to .zip.
- Open this ZIP folder and navigate to the folder ‘FILENAME.zip > xl’
- Delete the folder named ‘externalLinks’.
- Back out of the ZIP folder
- Rename the ZIP folder from extension .zip back to .xlsx
- Open this file
When the file opens in Excel® you should not be asked to update links. The EDIT LINKS option should be grayed out.
Compare this new file with the original to ensure it is working correctly.
6. Change the file type to ‘xls’ then back to ‘xlsx’.
Update: this is added courtesy of the comment from Jack below. Thanks Jack.
This is the “last last” resort. Downgrade the file.
- Create a backup of your file.
- ‘Save As’ your workbook.
- Change the file type to ‘xls’ (Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook’
- Click ‘Save’
- ‘Save As’ again.
- Change the file type to ‘xlsx’
- Click ‘Save’
That may well fix any remaining problems.
There can be a downside to this method. Saving a file as ‘xls’ that was created as ‘xlsx’ may result in some features being removed from the file. You will receive a warning if there are any features that are incompatible with the ‘xls’ format so check that first. If there are any issues then your backup should bail you out.
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When you copy cells or worksheets from another Excel workbook, links to other worksheets in many cases still persists. Excel offers a function to break links but this function only works with links within formulas. There are many other types of links as links within conditional formatting rules or data validation rules. The bad news: Those links can’t be cut easily. The good news: there are still ways to break these links.
Break ‘normal’ workbook links within formulas
Usually, “normal” workbook links within formulas can be cut easily with the ‘Edit Links’ function included in Excel (the numbers are corresponding with the picture on the right hand side):
- Go to the Data ribbon.
- If the “Edit Links” button is not greyed out it means that there is at least one active link to another data source (usually another workbook). Click on that button.
- Select all the data links you’d like to kill.
- Click on Break Link.
Please be careful: all cells referring to other workbooks within formulas will be changed to values. The underlying formulas will be removed.
If you want to avoid that the formulas are removed you might want to try another (more manual) approach: Using the replace function in Excel to replace the links with nothing:
- Find a cell relating to another workbook within a formula.
- Copy the link, shown with the square brackets inside the formula.
- Make sure that the exact same sheet as the source sheet also exists in your current workbook.
- Press Ctrl + h for opening the replace dialogue box.
- Paste the copied link and leave the Replace field blank.
- Click on Find Next.
Break links from named ranges
You can name cells in Excel. Instead of the cell reference as “A1” just the cell name will be shown. Breaking such links is easy:
- On the Formulas ribbon go to Name Manager and you can see all the names in your workbook.
- Please check in the reference column whether a cell name refers to another workbook. Just delete the entry if you want to cut that link.
Break Data Validation links
If you have data validation rules in your workbook – such as dropdown lists within cells – it’s possible that they relate to other workbooks. Unless you know exactly which cells have such rules you unfortunately have to search them.
Once you found cells having data validation rules referring to other workbooks follow these steps:
- Select the cells having data validation rules referring to other workbooks.
- Go to the Data ribbon.
- Next, click on Data Validation.
- The most common is the type List. If the source refers to other workbooks you should remove the path and link them to a place within your workbook. Alternatively remove the data validation rule completely by setting the “Allowed” type to “Any Value”.
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Break links of Conditional Formatting rules
Conditional Formatting rules can relate to other workbook as well. Especially when copying worksheets to other workbooks such links can be created. Finding them must be done for each worksheet separately:
- Click on Conditional Formatting in the center of the Home ribbon.
- Click on Manage Rules.
- In the drop down list on the top of the newly opened window select ‘This Sheet’. Now all the conditional formatting rules of the current worksheet will be shown.
- The easiest way is deleting the rules referring to other workbooks. Otherwise you have to change them manually and link them to your current workbook.
Break links of Pivot Tables
If the data source of Pivot Tables is in another workbook you can break this link too. Therefore, follow these steps:
- Find out if the data source of your Pivot Table is located on another workbook as described in this article.
- If the Pivot Table links to another workbook you have two options:
- Set another data source within your current workbook.
- Remove the Pivot functionality and copy and paste the complete Pivot Table as values.
Break all links with Professor Excel Tools
Because cutting links in Excel can be very troublesome and takes a lot of time, we’ve included a break link manager in our Excel add-in ‘Professor Excel Tools’. All the above mentioned steps are provided.
For breaking all the workbook links follow these steps:
- Go to the Professor Excel ribbon. and click on the ‘Break Link Manager’ within the ‘Workbook Tools’ group (the button with crossed out link on it). Professor Excel Tools now counts how many times each link type can be found within your Excel table.
- Select all the link types you’d like to break and click on start.
- Now, Professor Excel will break all the links. This procedure can take some time, especially if you have a lot of data in your workbook. The current status is shown in the status bar on the bottom of the screen.
Try it for free and see if it works for you.
This function is included in our Excel Add-In ‘Professor Excel Tools’
(No sign-up, download starts directly)
Henrik Schiffner is a freelance business consultant and software developer. He lives and works in Hamburg, Germany. Besides being an Excel enthusiast he loves photography and sports.
How to Break External Links in Excel?
There are two different methods to break external links in the Excel worksheet. The first method is to copy and paste as a value method, which is very simple. The second method is a little different. First, we need to go to the “DATA” tab and click “Edit Links,” and find the option to break the link.
Table of contents
- How to Break External Links in Excel?
- 2 Different Methods to Break External Links in Excel
- Method #1 – Copy and Paste as Values
- Method #2 – Edit Options Tab
- Things to Remember
- Recommended Articles
- 2 Different Methods to Break External Links in Excel
2 Different Methods to Break External Links in Excel
Method #1 – Copy and Paste as Values
Now, we must paste them as values.
We can see here that this value does not contain any links. It shows only value.
Method #2 – Edit Options Tab
The second method is a little different. In this method, we must go to the “DATA” tab and click on “Edit Links.”
Now, we can see the below-shown dialogue box.
Here we can see all the available external links. We can update the values, open-source files, and many other things. Apart from all these, we can also break these links.
Now, we will click on the “Break Link.”
As soon as we click on “Break Link,” we may see the dialog box below.
Once we break the External link in ExcelExternal links are also known as external references in Excel. When we use a formula in Excel and refer to a new workbook, it is the external link to the formula. In other words, an external link is when we give a link or apply a formula from another workbook.read more, we cannot recover the formulas. So, we cannot undo the action once we break the link. It is unlike our “Paste Special” method.
If we wish to break all the links at once, we need to select all the links and click on “Break Links.”
Things to Remember
- It is dangerous to have links to external sources in Excel.
- Once we break the link in Excel, we cannot undo the action.
- Using *.xl can cover all kinds of file extensions.
Recommended Articles
This article is a guide to Break Links in Excel. We discuss how to break external links in Excel using Copy and Paste as Value and Edit the Links Option tab, along with practical examples. You may learn more about Excel from the following articles: –
- Hyperlink Excel Formula
- VBA Hyperlinks
- How to Insert Hyperlinks in Excel?
- How to Remove Hyperlinks in Excel?
- Page Setup in Excel
Trying to break Excel links but Excel can not break links? It may be because you have referred external file in the data source of Excel objects or validations. Excel warning messages become a headache if Excel cannot break links when tried.
In normal cases, it is easy to break links in Excel files by just Alt + A + K or by going to the Data tab-> Queries & Connection manually. Then you have to select the wanted link to break and press the “Break Link” button. This option allows you to break visible known normal external links.
But What if excel won’t break external links even after trying this method?
In this article, we will see methods to fix Excel links issue in the following cases,
Why excel can not break links?
Excel fails to break external links if they are used for Data Validation or defining names in Names Manager.
In normal cases, if external links are placed in Excel date cells you can select and see them, so you can delete, break or edit them manually. But if they are used in the following Excel features,
- Data Validations
- Defined Name range in Name Manage
- Charts
Excel won’t break them using the Edit link option, you have to break them manually. Hence, if links are from the missing files every time you open an Excel file following error message will keep appearing.
Here is how to break links in Excel
To break links you have to look for links used in the formula or data source of Excel features. If you found one, verify is it the same which causing the problem, and if “yes” then fix it.
1
Break Excel Links used in Data Validation
If external links are used in Data Validation or in Names Manager they are not available to access through applied data cells. It becomes more difficult when you don’t know exactly which cells of rows and columns are used in data validation.
Follow these steps,
Step-1: First identify & select the data range (i.e cells, columns, rows) that have applied data validation referring to external files. If you don’t know then simply select all (Ctrl + A)
Step-2: Then go to Data tab-> Data Validation (Alt + A + V+V).
If your selection is perfect then it will show you referring file address as shown in the above screenshot. Otherwise, it will not and you have to select a large cell range (i.e select all).
Step-3: Then click on “Clear All”. It will clear all data validations from selected cells and so links.
Note: Clear All will remove all applied data validation from the selected range. You have to again set up validation to the required cells.
2
Break Excel Links used in Name ranges
If external links are used in defining names in Names Manager you can delete or edit them by editing names only. You can not break these links from the Edit Links dialog.
Follow these steps,
Step-1: Goto Formula tab->Name Manager (Alt + M + N)
Step-2: Look for a defined name with an external link in the “Refers To” column
Step-3: Edit/Correct or delete the defined Name Range
Note: Deleting a defined Name will cause an error in cells that contain the same Name as part of the formula.
3
Break Excel Links used in Charts
Moving Excel charts to external files cause the creation of phantom links (links to external file you haven’t created). You have to look for a such link in the data source and code of Excel charts if there is any.
Follow these steps,
Step-1: Select Excel chart then Right click->Slect Data.. source
Step-2: Look for links with the external file name
Step-3: Edit/Correct or delete the defined source
If your links are in VBA code, select the item and press Alt + F11 to open the VBA project manager. here you can check if there is any external link that is causing the problem.
Some external links are hidden in the data source of data validation, names, and charts. You can remove hidden external links in Excel by looking inside sources of charts, names, and data validations.
Conclusion
Excel cannot break links if they are used in the data sources of Excel features and objects. Links may become ghost or phantom links if you move sheets, or objects (such as charts) to another sheet. It can also cause problems when you move, edit, or remove referred Excel files. You have to reconfigure and correct reference formulas and data sources to fix such link-related issues.