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
    2014-05-13T05:40:04+00:00

    In my case the problem arose when I copied in 2 protected sheets.  I later found that they were also referencing a hidden sheet and when I unhid the extra sheet and then moved all 3 sheets to my workbook the problem was no longer present as the 2 protected sheets were still able to reference the previously hidden sheet now copied into the workbook.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-08T20:12:24+00:00

    Thank you!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2013-09-12T10:17:17+00:00

    Thanks, it worked great for me ! :-)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-08-07T21:42:20+00:00

    Thank you so much.

    I have the same problem and it fix by using the Add-Ins FindLink :)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments