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

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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

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-01-12T15:14:52+00:00

    As noted in my original post, I had already tried this maneuver (which is in Microsoft's standard help guidance). It was ineffective.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-01-12T15:12:54+00:00

    Download findlink from here:

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

    I tried Findlink. It seems a competent add-in, insofar as it confirms there are no links (how could there be after my breaking the links so many times?). However, the problem was not remedied. The "Edit Links" button continued to be active, ie not greyed out, signifying that Excel considers there are still links in the file, thus publishing to SharePoint Exce Services is prohibited.

    My workaround: I created a new, blank sheet in the workbook. I copied the data from the infected sheet, went to the blank sheet, and there I (a) special-pasted column widths, then (b) pasted values. Then I (c) deleted the infected sheet, at which point the Edit Links button became grey, indicating that Excel now is persuaded there are no external links in the workbook.

    I must conclude, from reading the traffic that has accumulated around the web on this issue for the past 15 years, that this is an Excel software bug not even Microsoft itself is able to kill.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-01-12T06:02:29+00:00

    If the link used a defined name. The name is not automatically removed. You may want to delete the name as well.

    Follow the steps below to check if it helps:

    1. On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Name Manager.
    2. In the Name Manager dialog box, click the name that you want to change.
    3. Click the name to select it.
    4. Click Delete. You can also press DELETE.
    5. Click OK to confirm the deletion.

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