How to break an external link that won't break

Anonymous
2012-01-11T18:42:31+00:00

I have studied all the Excel help available and followed the advice, but I have encountered an external link in an Excel 2010 workbook that simply will not break. No matter how many times I select "Break Link," this zombie is always there. I have tried deleting range names that came from the source file, to no avail. I "break the link" in the destination file, save, close the file, reopen it -- and the link is still there. I have tried adjusting the options every which way, no luck.

How do I absolutely, positively, completely and forever, send this link to Davy Jones's locker?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-12-04T08:40:04+00:00

Dear Long_John_Silver

I had a similar issue and in addition to Raju S Das' recommendation, I have also checked the data validations for various fields; this is where I found some zombie links that were not required anymore.

Maybe you can find some in your file too and remove them:

  • Select the cells where you expect the zombie data validation (I could narrow it down to one section on a specific worksheet)
  • In the Data Tools section of the Data ribbon, select Data Validation from the Data Validation dropdown
  • Check if there is any list validation with a reference to a linked file location.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Roger

Was this answer helpful?

300+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

69 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-06T10:40:34+00:00

    Raju,

    That was brilliant. I was able to finally remove links in my excel... :)

    Thanks,

    Raghu

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-06T00:47:21+00:00

    I was able to locate the broken links by using the "Circle Invalid Data" tool in the Data Ribbon under Validate.

    Hope this helps

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-02-18T11:07:58+00:00

    Download findlink from here:

    http://www.manville.org.uk/software/default.htm

    That PLUS Save As worked for me.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2014-12-11T14:30:36+00:00

    Really helpful ! thanks a lot

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments