Data Source path in Pivot Table changes to absolute on its own

Anonymous
2013-08-19T15:32:36+00:00

Hello.

I have a .XLSX file, that was created long time ago (I don't even know in which Office version, but definitely not 2013), and maybe even was a .XLS file at first.

So it's a 4 MB file with 16 Sheets and 8 Pivot Tables.

All of the Pivot Tables use other sheets from the same file as Data Source.

Data Source for some of them look like this: 'Sheet3'!$A:$E

Everything is fine when I save the file, and open it from saved file. 

But as soon as I try to move the file elsewhere, or rename it, or email it - all Data Source paths change to something like this: '\Users\Sergii_Litnevskyi\Desktop\New folder[FileName.xlsx]Sheet3'!$A:$E

And it happens with all Pivot Tables. The problem is that it links to an old file path, where the file does not exist anymore. And it links to an external file, which is not what I want.

If I Save As and select different path and filename - then it works fine. So it's a workaround for renaming and moving files, but not for sending them to other persons.

I've read some threads, and people recommend disabling "Save external link values", but it does not help. It is already turned off in my office, but it keeps acting weird. 

So what I need is: Save the file, close it, rename it, move it to other place, send it over email as attachment. And then I want to have the same Data Source path in my PivotTables as I had before I saved the file. How can I do it?

My Office version: Microsoft Excel 2013 (15.0.4454.1503) MSO (15.0.4517.1005) 32-bit

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 No comments

45 answers

Sort by: Newest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-04-08T10:03:54+00:00

    Hi Gremio, I've been looking for this same solution but couldn't finda a way to modify Pivot Source Data from VBA code. Can you please provide some code? It would be really helpful, this new feature (or bug) is proving very very annoying to me - I use pivots a lot and I'm tempted to switch back to Office 2010.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-04-07T18:30:11+00:00

    The work around that fixed this issue for me was to create a data model and use that as the data source for the pivot table.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-04-07T17:59:40+00:00

    I'm having this exact same problem, and I can't solve it.

    I think right now the only way is to use a macro do manually force the right source relative path each time the workbook is opened. And thats terrible.

    Is there a fix for that, MS??????????

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-06T07:05:59+00:00

    I have the same issue and this is with one Pivot Table that pulls data from another sheet in the same file.

    The sheet that contains the source data pulls from a SQL server, not sure if this is relevant or not.

    If I move the file to another folder or send it to a client the PivotTable keeps looking for the old file which doesn't exist.

    The only workaround I was able to find was to click the tick-box "Add this data to the Data Model" when creating the Pivot Table.

    Then the hard-coded reference to a fixed file name issue seems to disappear.

    It really looks like bug to me, why would the Pivot Table need to store a link to a hard-coded file name if the source for the Pivot Table is in the same file?

    Was this answer helpful?

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2013-09-08T11:04:56+00:00

    Hi Serg,

    For better suggestions related Pivot table in Excel, you may post your query in Excel IT pro using the forum link below:

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/excel/threads

    Thank you.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments