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In Microsoft Excel, you can link a cell in a workbook to another workbook using a formula that references the external workbook. This is called a workbook link. When this workbook link is created, it may use a relative path, which can enable you to move the workbooks without breaking the link. This article discusses how workbook links are stored by Excel under different circumstances and can help when you are trying to fix a broken link.
When Excel opens a destination workbook that contains workbook links, it dynamically combines the portions of the workbook links stored in the workbook with the necessary portions of the current path of the source workbook to create an absolute path.
It is also important to note that what appears in the formula bar is not necessarily what is stored. For example, if the source workbook is closed, you see a full path to the file, although only the file name may be stored.
Workbooks links to source workbooks are created in a relative manner whenever possible. This means that the full path to the source workbook is not recorded, but rather the portion of the path as it relates to the destination workbook. With this method, you can move the workbooks without breaking the links between them. The workbook links remain intact, however, only if the workbooks remain in the same location relative to each other. For example, if the destination workbook is C:MydirDestination.xlsx and the source workbook is C:MydirFilesSource.xlsx, you can move the files to the D drive as long as the source workbook is still located in a subfolder called «Files».
Relative links may cause problems if you move the destination workbook to different computers and the source workbook is in a central location.
The way workbook links are storied varies in the following ways:
Storage type 1: Same drive with the same folder or child folder
The source workbook is either in the same folder or a child folder as the destination workbook. In this case, we store the relative file path, for example, subfolder/source.xlsx and destination.xlsx.
This type works best for cloud-based workbooks and when both workbooks are moved.
Storage type 2: Same drive but with different sibling folders
The source and destination workbooks are on the same drive, but in different sibling folders. In this case, we store a server-relative path, for example, /root/parent/sibling1/source.xlsx and /root/parent/sibling2/destination.xlsx.
This type works best if the destination workbook is moved within the same drive, but the source workbook stays in the same location.
Storage type 3: Different drives
The source workbook is on a different drive from the destination workbook. For example, the destination workbook folder is on the C drive and the source workbook folder is on the H drive. In this case, we store the absolute path, for example, H:foldersource.xlsx or https://tenant.sharepoint.com/teams/site/folder/source.xlsx.
This type works best if the destination workbook is moved, but the source workbook stays in the same location. This assumes that the destination workbook can still access the source workbook.
If the source workbook is located in the XLStart, Alternate Startup File Location, or Library folder, a property is written to indicate one of these folders, and only the file name is stored.
Excel recognizes two default XLStart folders from which to automatically open files on startup. The two folders are as follows:
The XLStart folder that is in the user’s profile is the XLStart folder that is stored as a property for the workbook link. If you use the XLStart folder that is in the Office installation folder, that XLStart folder is treated like any other folder on the hard disk.
The Office folder name changes between versions of Office. For example, the Office folder name can be, Office14, Office15 or Office16, depending on the version of Office that you are running. This folder name change causes workbook links to be broken if you move to a computer that is running a different version of Excel than the version in which the link was established.
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The XLStart folder that is in the Office installation folder, such as C:Program FilesMicrosoft Office<Office folder>XLStart
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The XLStart folder that is in the user’s profile, such as C:Documents and Settings<username>Application DataMicrosoftExcelXLStart
When a source workbook is linked, the workbook link is established based on the way that the source workbook was opened. If the workbook was opened over a mapped drive, the workbook link is created by using a mapped drive. The workbook link remains that way regardless of how the source workbook is opened in the future. If the source workbook is opened by a UNC path, the workbook link does not revert to a mapped drive, even if a matching drive is available. If you have both UNC and mapped drive workbook links in the same file, and the source workbooks are open at the same time as the destination workbook, only those links that match the way the source workbook was opened will react as hyperlink. Specifically, if you open the source workbook through a mapped drive and change the values in the source workbook, only those links created to the mapped drive will update immediately.
Also, the workbook link displayed in Excel may appear differently depending on how the workbook was opened. The workbook link may appear to match either the root UNC share or the root drive letter that was used to open the file.
There are several circumstances in which workbook links between workbooks can be inadvertently made to point to erroneous locations. The following are two of the most common scenarios.
Scenario 1
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You map a drive under the root of a share. For example, you map drive Z to \MyServerMyShareMyFolder1.
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You create workbook links to a source workbook that is stored at the mapped location after you open the destination workbook through that mapped drive.
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You open the destination workbook by a UNC path.
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As a consequence, the workbook link will be broken.
If you close the destination workbook without saving it, the workbook links will not be changed. However, if you save the destination workbook before you close it, you will save the workbook links with the current broken path. The folders between the root of the share and the mapped folder will be left out of the path. In the example above, the link would change to \MyServerMyFolder1. In other words, the Share name is eliminated from the file path.
Scenario 2
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You map a drive under the root of a share. For example, you map drive Z to \MyServerMyShareMyFolder1.
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You open the file by a UNC path, or a mapped drive mapped to a different folder on the share, such as \MyServerMyShareMyFolder2.
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As a consequence, the workbook link will be broken.
If you close the destination workbook without saving it, the workbook links will not be changed. However, if you save the destination workbook before you close it, you will save the workbook links with the current broken path. The folders between the root of the share and the mapped folder will be left out of the path. In the example above, the link would change to \MyServerMyFolder1. In other words, the Share name is eliminated from the file path.
See Also
Create workbook links
Manage workbook links
Update workbook links
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Working with Excel, a day will come when you’ll need to reference data from one workbook in another one. It’s a common use case and pretty easy to pull off. Join us as we explain how to link two Excel files and discuss many possible scenarios.
How to link Excel files – what are the available options?
Just as there are many different versions of Excel, the ways to link data also differ. It’s a lot easier if you share your Excel files in OneDrive rather than locally but we’ll discuss both scenarios.
Choosing how to link data depends also on the sheer volume of what you wish to link. If we’re talking here about particular cells or a column from your workbook, the default methods will do just fine. If you’re after linking entire Excel files, using tools such as Coupler.io with its Excel integrations may prove to be more efficient. But we’ll get to that!
You can link two or more Excel files stored on your hard drive. When the data changes in a Source file, the change will be quickly reflected in the Destination file.
The drawback of this approach is that it will only work on your local machine. Even if you share both files with another user, the link will cease to exist and they’ll be forced to re-add it. What’s more, the data will be only updated if both files are open at the same time.
So if you have a choice, it’s better to add both files to your OneDrive. If they’re already in there, you may as well jump to the How to link between Cloud-based Excel files section.
To link 2 Excel files stored locally, you have two options:
- Type in a formula referencing the exact location in a Source file
- Copy the desired cells and paste them as a link
How to link between files in desktop Excel?
To reference a single cell in another local file, you’ll use the following formula:
=[SourceWorkbook.xlsx]Sheet1!$A$1
Replace SourceWorkbook.xlsx with the name of the file stored on your machine. Then, point to an exact sheet and a cell. A reference to a range of cells could like this:
=[MyFile.xlsx]Sheet1!A1:C8
Press ENTER to save the formula and pull the data. If you’re on an older version of Excel, you may need to press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER instead.
When you close the Source file, the formulas will change to include the entire path of the file – for example:
='C:[MyFile.xlsx]Sheet1'!A1:C8
As an alternative, you can:
- Open a Source file, select the desired cells, and copy them.
- Head back to the Destination file, right-click on a desired cell or cells and choose to paste as a link.
- Here is the result:
Note that if the Source file is closed, and you reference it with a formula, no data will be pulled until you open a file.
How to link between cloud-based files in Excel?
When you wish to link Excel Online files or use those stored in OneDrive, things become easier. You can freely share files among coworkers and any interlinking won’t be affected. Links in files also refresh in near real time, giving you peace of mind that you’re working with the latest data.
The feature that enables it is called Workbook Links. We’ll explain how it works in the following chapters.
Workbook Links are suitable for individual cells or ranges of them. You may also link individual columns but the more data is involved, the slower your calculations will be. If you’re going to be linking entire worksheets or workbooks, it’s far better to focus on importing, rather than linking them. This is best done with dedicated tools.
There is more on that in the How to link a wide range of cells to Excel or another service chapter.
How to link two Excel files?
Let’s start with a most basic use case – you’re running some operations in your Excel workbook. In one of the fields, you wish to use the value(s) from another workbook and have it update automatically.
The flow is simple:
- In workbook 1 (source), highlight the data you want to link and copy it.
- In workbook 2 (destination), right-click on the first row and select the Link icon.
The latest data will be imported. A yellow bar will, however, appear now as well as every time you open a destination workbook.
To enable the data sync, select Enable Content.
For some more advanced settings, you can choose the Manage Workbook Links button to look up the list of connected workbooks and a status for each – most likely it will be Connection Blocked.
To sync, press the Enable Content button from the yellow bar.
If any errors occur, you’ll see them in the menu to the right. For each of the connected files, you can press the Refresh button to manually pull the latest data. You can also use the button above to refresh data for all your links.
Of course, the whole idea of creating links between workbooks is not to keep refreshing the data manually. Once the data has been refreshed, an option to set automatic updates will be enabled.
If you tick Refresh automatically, the data will start to refresh periodically.
How to link a wide range of cells to Excel or another service?
The more data you link, the more computing your Excel needs to perform to pull the data and refresh it. It’s not an issue if you have a few or a few dozens of links spread across files.
However, if you wish to regularly pull thousands of cells into your workbooks, it will significantly slow down your workbooks. It may delay the data refresh and may leave you wondering whether the data has already been refreshed or not.
To avoid that, for larger operations it’s better to use tools dedicated to importing data such as Coupler.io. With Coupler.io, you can pull the desired ranges of cells directly into another Excel workbook or worksheet. You can then refresh the data automatically at a chosen schedule.
If you wish to, you can also import the Excel data to other services, such as Google Sheets or Google BigQuery, or bring it to Excel from Airtable, Pipedrive, Hubspot, and many others.
To get started with Coupler.io, create an account, log in, and click the Add an importer button.
From the list of source applications, choose Excel.
Next, click the Connect button. Log in with your Microsoft account and allow for Coupler.io to connect.
Once connected, you’ll need to choose the workbook from your OneDrive that we’ll be importing from. Also select the worksheet in this file.
Although it’s optional, most often you’ll want to specify the range of cells to import. If you don’t, all data from a given sheet will be fetched.
You may use the standard Excel formatting and pull, for example, cells C1:D8. You may also pull an entire column by typing, for example, C1:C.
Jumping to the Destination settings, choose where to import the data to. We’ll go with Excel as we just want to move the data from one workbook to another but there are other options available too.
If you’re importing from Excel to Excel, there’s no need to connect your account again, unless you’re importing to someone else’s account. Select it, and specify the exact destination.
Finally, you can create a schedule for when the data should be imported. Choose what works best for you and run the importer.
Give it a little while to load, and then open the destination worksheet to see the results.
How to link Excel files and sync in real-time?
One of the advantages of using Excel files stored on OneDrive is their ability to sync data between one another. Microsoft advertises it as real-time sync but after some tests, we would call it a near real time.
If you’re used to the refresh rate of Google Sheets, for example, you may be disappointed. However, in most situations, a slight delay won’t cause any trouble.
To link files in Excel, follow the steps we outlined in the How to link Excel files chapter.
When data is changed in the destination file, most likely you won’t see an update visible right away in the source file. If you do nothing about it and just move on to the next task, you should see a refreshed number in a cell in a few minutes’ time. It will then continue refreshing at regular intervals.
If you want to speed things up, you can run an instant refresh by clicking Data -> Workbook Links in the menu and then the icon to refresh the data from a particular workbook.
This will often work, but only if the data in the source workbook has already been saved. Once again, it doesn’t happen instantly but only at regular (quite frequent) intervals.
If you’re anxious to have the data refreshed presently, you may consider refreshing the source file after making a change. This will prompt an automatic save. After that, manually force a data refresh in the destination file and it will fetch the latest saved data.
As a reminder, if you use Coupler.io to import data from one Excel workbook to another, you decide on the refresh schedule. For some, morning sync from Monday to Friday will do just fine. Others will prefer more frequent syncs – with Coupler.io you can even do it every 15 minutes.
FAQ: How to link Excel files
Let’s now discuss some specific use cases for how to link files in Excel. The tips below apply for files stored in OneDrive. If you only use Excel locally, jump back to the How to link local files in Excel section.
How to link cells in different Excel files?
For linking individual cells across files, the procedure is very much the same as we discussed earlier:
- Highlight the cell you want to reuse elsewhere and copy it.
- Right-click on the desired destination and select the Link icon from the Paste Options section.
If you’re importing to the same workbook as before, you won’t need to Enable Content again. If you reloaded it in the meantime, or are just linking the data to a new workbook, choose Manage Workbook Links and then Enable Content from the same bar.
Note that if you link multiple sets of cells or data ranges from the same workbook serving as a Source, they will all appear as a single position on your list of Workbook Links.
In the example below, you can see the data we imported from our sample Shopify store using Coupler.io.
We have a range of prices to the left linked from the respective workbook. Below there’s also a name of one of our products linked from another place in the same workbook. To the right, we can refresh data for all linked fields or, for example, enable automatic data refreshes.
How to link two Excel files without opening the source file?
You can link files in Excel without actually opening the source file. Of course, you’ll need to know the exact location of the cell or range of cells you wish to link. What’s more, to link Excel Online files or anything else stored on your OneDrive, you’ll need to fetch your unique ID.
To do so, set up a link in the traditional way we described above. Then, click on any linked cell in the Destination file and check its formula. It will look something like this:
='https://d.docs.live.net/18644c626caae38c/[myworkbook1.xlsx]Sheet1'!$C$2
The ID will follow right after the live.net link:
To insert a link from any given workbook, copy the formula with your ID and swap the file name and the cell range with the right values. Press ENTER and the latest data will be fetched.
How to link Excel columns between files?
Choosing a range of cells limits you to only the values currently present in the Source workbook. If anything new appears, it won’t be linked and, as such, won’t appear in the Destination workbook.
The solution is often to link an entire column and reference it in another file. To do so, click on any column in the Source file and copy it.
Then, select the first row of a column you want to add a link to and choose the Link icon. All the rows from the chosen column will be imported.
Rather than click, you can also enter the formulas directly. To link an entire column, it’s best to link to the first cell and then stretch the formula to the other rows.
When you insert the formula for the first row, be sure to remove the second $ (dollar) sign pointing to the specific cell. So, instead of the reference:
(...)Sheet1'!$C$2
Make it:
(...)Sheet1'!$C2
How to link fields between multiple files in Excel?
Advanced calculations may require referencing data from multiple spreadsheets at the same time. In the same way, the calculated data can then be referenced in other workbooks, creating a complex network of interconnected links.
As you recall from the earlier chapters, the formulas for linking cells between Excel Online files look somewhat like this:
='https://d.docs.live.net/18373e637ca3e48c/[Shopify Products - prices.xlsx]Sheet1'!$C$8
For the purpose of running any calculations or just adjusting the formulas as we go, the link is far too complex. It’s much better to link the desired fields into the destination workbook and then reference them from another worksheet in the same workbook.
To do so, create a separate worksheet in your destination file where you’ll link all the external data. Name it accordingly – for example, “Sources”. Link the desired data by copying it from the source file and then pasting it as links (just as we did before).
Then, jump to the worksheet in the destination file. To reference the data from another sheet, use the following pattern:
Sheet_name!$A$1
For example, for calculating the average value of a range of cells present now in another worksheet, we would use:
=AVERAGE(Sources!B2:B12)
You can also type in the “=” sign (plus optionally a function name) and then jump to another worksheet and highlight the arguments. Press ENTER and the formula will be resolved.
In the standard version of Excel, the approach is pretty much the same, just with some small changes in the syntax of the links, as we mentioned earlier.
How to link Excel files – summing up
Linking Excel files can save you plenty of time and help you automate many dull processes.
It can also make things harder if you begin to link from one file to another, then to another, and another. The more interconnected workbooks become, the more complex it will be to troubleshoot the entire flow.
Find the right balance and use the right methods for linking your data.
When moving individual cells or ranges of them, Workbook Links work perfectly and are very easy to set up.
For moving large sets of data between workbooks or linking entire files, it’s a lot better to use tools such as Coupler.io. You’ll be able to set up your own schedule for imports, and all data transfers will happen outside of Excel. As a result, no Excel resources will be used, and you’ll be able to work much more smoothly while the information is synced in the background.
Thanks for reading!
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Technical Content Writer on Coupler.io who loves working with data, writing about it, and even producing videos about it. I’ve worked at startups and product companies, writing content for technical audiences of all sorts. You’ll often see me cycling🚴🏼♂️, backpacking around the world🌎, and playing heavy board games.
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As you use and build more Excel workbooks, you’ll need to link them up. Maybe you want to write formulas that use data between different sheets in a workbook. You can even write formulas that use data from multiple different workbooks.
If I want to keep my files clean and tidy, I’ve found it’s best to separate large sheets of data from the formulas that summarize them. I often use a single workbook or sheet to summarize things.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to link data in Excel. First, we’ll learn how to link up data in the same workbook on different sheets. Then, we’ll move on to linking up multiple Excel workbooks to import and sync data between files.
How to Quickly Link Data in Excel Workbooks (Watch & Learn)
I’ll walk you through two examples linking up your spreadsheets. You’ll see how to pull data from another workbook in Excel and keep two workbooks connected. We’ll also walk through a basic example to write formulas between sheets in the same workbook.
Let’s walk through an illustrated guide to linking up your data between sheets and workbooks in Excel.
Basics: How to Link Between Sheets in Excel
Let’s start off by learning how to write formulas using data from another sheet. You probably already know that Excel workbooks can contain multiple worksheets. Each worksheet is a tab of its own, and you can switch tabs by clicking on them at the bottom of Excel.
Complex workbooks can easily grow to many sheets. In time, you’ll certainly need to write formulas to work with data on different tabs.
Maybe you use a single sheet in your workbook for all of your formulas to summarize your data, and separate sheets to hold the original data.
Let’s learn how to write a multi-sheet formula to work with data from multiple sheets in the same workbook.
1. Start a New Formula in Excel
Most formulas in Excel start off with the equals (=) sign. Double click or start typing in a cell and begin writing the formula that you want to link up. For my example, I’ll write a sum formula to add up several cells.
I’ll open up the = sign, and then click on the first cell on my current sheet to make it the first part of the formula. Then, I’ll type a + sign to add my second cell to this formula.
Now, make sure that you don’t close out your formula and press enter yet! You’ll want to leave the formula open before you switch sheets.
2. Switch Sheets in Excel
While you still have the formula open, click on a different sheet tab at the bottom of Excel. It’s very important that you don’t close out the formula before you click on the next cell to include as part of the formula.
After you switch sheets, click on the next cell that you want to include in the formula. As you can see in the screenshot below, Excel automatically writes the part of the formula that references a cell on another sheet for you.
Notice in the screenshot below that to reference a cell on another sheet, Excel adds «Sheet2!B3», which simply references cell B3 on a sheet named Sheet2. You could write this manually, but clicking on the cells makes Excel write it for you automatically.
3. Finish the Excel Formula
At this point, you can press enter to close out and complete your multi-sheet formula. When you do so, Excel will jump back to where you started the formula and show you the results.
You could also keep writing the formula, including cells from more sheets and other cells on the same sheet. Keep combining those references throughout the workbook for all the data you need.
Level Up: How to Link Multiple Excel Workbooks
Let’s learn how to pull data from another workbook. With this skill, you can write formulas that pull together data from entirely separate Excel workbooks.
For this section of the tutorial, you can use two workbooks that you can download for free as a part of this tutorial. Open them both up in Excel, and follow the directions below.
1. Open Both Workbooks
Let’s start off by writing a formula that includes data from two different workbooks.
The easiest way to use this feature is to open up two Excel workbooks at the same time and put them side by side. I use the Windows Snap feature to split them to each take up half the screen. You need to keep both workbooks in view to write formulas between them.
In the screenshot below, I’ve opened two workbooks that I’ll write formulas for side-by-side. For my example, I’m running a business that buys a variety of products, and sells them in a variety of countries. So, I’ll use separate workbooks to track my purchases/sales and cost data.
2. Start Writing Your Formula in Excel
The price of what I buy can change, and so can the rate that I receive payments in. I need to keep a lookup list of rates and multiply it times my purchases. This is the perfect time to link two workbooks together and write formulas between them.
Let’s take the number of barrels of oil I buy each month times the price per barrel. In the first Cost cell (cell C3), I’ll start writing a formula by typing the equals sign (=), and then clicking on cell B3 to grab the quantity. Now, I’ll add an * to prepare to multiply the quantity by the rate.
So far, your formula should be:
=B3*
Don’t close out your formula yet. Make sure to leave it open before moving onto the next step; we still need to point Excel to the price data to multiply the quantity by.
3. Switch Excel Workbooks
It’s time to switch workbooks, and this is why it’s important to keep both of your datasets in view while working between workbooks.
With your formula still open, click over to the other workbook. Then, click on a cell in your second workbook to link up the two Excel files.
Excel automatically wrote the reference to a separate workbook as part of the cell formula:
=B3*[Prices.xlsx]Sheet1!$B$2
Once you press Enter, Excel will calculate the final cost by multiplying the quantity in the first workbook times the price in the second workbook.
Now, keep working on your Excel skills by multiplying each of the quantities or values times the reference amounts in the «Prices» workbook.
In short, the key is to get your workbooks open side by side, and simply switch workbooks to write formulas referencing other files.
There’s nothing stopping you from linking up more than two workbooks. You could open many workbooks to link up and write formulas, connecting the data between many sheets to keep cells up to date.
How to Refresh Your Data Between Workbooks
When you’ve written formulas that reference other Excel workbooks, you’ll need to think about how you’ll update your data.
So, what happens when the data changes in the workbook that you’re linking to? Will your workbook automatically update, or will you need to refresh your files to pull over the last data and import it?
The answer is, «it depends», and specifically, it depends upon if both workbooks are still open at the same time.
Example 1: Both Excel Workbooks Still Open
Let’s check out an example using the same workbook from the prior step. Both workbooks are still open. Let’s see what happens when we change the price of oil from $45 per barrel to $75 per barrel:
In the screenshot above, you can see that when we updated the price of oil, the other workbook automatically updated.
This is important to know: if both workbooks are open at the same time, changes will update automatically and in real-time. When you change one variable, the other workbook will update or recalculate based upon the new value.
Example 2: With One Workbook Closed
What if you only open one workbook at a time? For example, each morning, we update prices of our commodities and currencies, and in the evening we review the impact of the change to our purchases and sales.
The next time you open up your workbook that references other sheets, you might get a message similar to the one below. You can click on Update to pull in the latest data from your reference workbook.
You might also see a menu where you can click Enable Content to automate updating data between Excel files.
Recap and Keep Learning More About Excel
Writing formulas between sheets and workbooks is a necessary skill when you work with Microsoft Excel. Using multiple spreadsheets inside your formulas is no problem with a bit of know-how.
Check out these additional tutorials to learn more about Excel skills and how to work with data. These tutorials are a great way to continue learning Excel.
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about how to link up your Excel workbooks.
Did you find this post useful?
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I cover a variety of topics for Tuts+, including photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom, PowerPoint, Keynote, and more. What I enjoy most is teaching people to use software to solve everyday problems, excel in their career, and complete work efficiently. Feel free to reach out to me on my website.
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This wikiHow teaches you how to link data between multiple worksheets in a Microsoft Excel workbook. Linking will dynamically pull data from a sheet into another, and update the data in your destination sheet whenever you change the contents of a cell in your source sheet.
Steps
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1
Open a Microsoft Excel workbook. The Excel icon looks like a green-and-white «X» icon.
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2
Click your destination sheet from the sheet tabs. You will see a list of all your worksheets at the bottom of Excel. Click on the sheet you want to link to another worksheet.
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3
Click an empty cell in your destination sheet. This will be your destination cell. When you link it to another sheet, the data in this cell will be automatically synchronized and updated whenever the data in your source cell changes.
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4
Type = in the cell. It will start a formula in your destination cell.
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5
Click your source sheet from the sheet tabs. Find the sheet where you want to pull data from, and click on the tab to open the worksheet.
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6
Check the formula bar. The formula bar shows the value of your destination cell at the top of your workbook. When you switch to your source sheet, it should show the name of your current worksheet, following an equals sign, and followed by an exclamation mark.
- Alternatively, you can manually write this formula in the formula bar. It should look like =<SheetName>!, where «<SheetName>» is replaced with the name of your source sheet.
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7
Click a cell in your source sheet. This will be your source cell. It could be an empty cell, or a cell with some data in it. When you link sheets, your destination cell will be automatically updated with the data in your source cell.
- For example, if you’re pulling data from cell D12 in Sheet1, the formula should look like =Sheet1!D12.
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8
Click ↵ Enter on your keyboard. This will finalize the formula, and switch back to your destination sheet. Your destination cell is now linked to your source cell, and dynamically pulls data from it. Whenever you edit the data in your source cell, your destination cell will also be updated.
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9
Click your destination cell. This will highlight the cell.
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10
Click and drag the square icon in the lower-right corner of your destination cell. This will expand the range of linked cells between your source and destination sheets. Expanding your initial destination cell will link the adjacent cells from your source sheet.
- You can drag and expand the range of linked cells in any direction. This could include the entire worksheet, or only parts of it.
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Article SummaryX
1. Open Excel.
2. Click your destination cell.
3. Type «=«.
4. Click another sheet.
5. Click your source cell.
6. Press Enter on your keyboard.
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Excel Tips: Linking Workbooks
Creating links between your workbooks lets you quickly include cells or cell ranges in calculations performed on a summary tab. For example, you can store product prices on a Master Pricing tab and link to it elsewhere. A marketing manager may have a data sheet for each geography that he wants to combine in a dashboard. Learn how to complete these and similar linking tasks in Excel.
How Does Linking Spreadsheet Data Work?
Both a link and external cell reference dynamically include data from another worksheet. The source worksheet is the worksheet with the data. The destination worksheet has the link formula or external cell reference. If a referenced cell value changes, the destination cell updates when activated.
How Can You Create the Worksheet Link?
IMPORTANT NOTE: Open the destination worksheet and each source worksheet in a single Excel session. Otherwise, you won’t be able to link across workbooks.
There are two ways to create a worksheet link.
Method #1
- Go to the destination worksheet, click in the applicable cell, and type an equal sign = (Do NOT press ENTER).
- Go directly to your source worksheet, select the appropriate cell. The system surrounds the source cell with squiggly lines. Press Enter.
- You are returned to the destination cell, which now displays the data from the source cell.
Method #2
- Select the source cell and then select Home > Copy.
- In the destination cell, follow the instructions for your version of Excel:
- Excel 2007 and up: Go to the Home tab. Under Paste choose Paste Link.
- Excel 2003 and prior: Navigate to the Edit menu, select Paste Special, and select Paste Link.
- From the source worksheet, use the ESC button to get rid of the animated border.
How Can You Link a Range of Cells?
You can also link a range of cells by following these steps:
- Select the cell range you wish to duplicate.
- Click Copy.
- On the destination sheet, click the cell where you want the range of data to begin, select Paste Link.
Each cell will have a unique link formula that references the source worksheet.
Can You Manually Enter Link Formulas in the Same Workbook?
When the worksheets share the same workbook, you can manually enter the formula.
- Type an equal sign, the name of the source sheet, “!”, and the cell. Example: =Atlanta!B6.
IMPORTANT: If your worksheet name has spaces or special characters, you have to include single quotes. Example: =’This Worksheet’!B6.
How Do You Link to Worksheets in Another Workbook?
For worksheets in different Excel workbooks within the same folder, your formula should include the workbook name in brackets. Here is the syntax:
=[Filename.xlsx]Sheetname!CellReference
NOTE: For Excel versions older than 2007, add the xls extension.
For workbooks in different folders, you need to include the full file path. In this case, manual entry isn’t recommended.
What Is the Automatic Calculation Function?
The Automatic Calculation function makes sure that the external cell reference updates whenever the source information does. Here’s how to check this function:
- In Excel 2007 to Excel 2019: Go to the Calculation section on your Excel ribbon. Click the arrow beside Calculation Options, then select Automatic.
- Click File>Excel Options. Click Formulas and click on the “Automatically” option listed beneath Calculation Options.
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