problem with linked excel worksheet object in word changing to object and then link not updating

Anonymous
2022-08-10T04:02:31+00:00

I have used linked excel tables or worksheet object in word documents for years without any issues until yesterday 8/8/22.

Out of nowhere the "Linked Worksheet Object", or the excel table that I linked into word (paste special > paste link > microsoft excel worksheet object), changed to an "object" after the word doc was saved, closed and opened again.

Before yesterday, I could right-click on the linked table, or "Linked Worksheet Object", and select "Update Link" and any changes I made to the table in the linked excel file would appear in the word doc. Now, I right-click on what is now an "object" and select "Update Link" and nothing happens. Strangely, if I right-click on the linked table, select "object", then "Links...", and then "Open Source", the "object" reverts back to a "Linked Worksheet Object" and updates as usual.

But after saving, closing, and opening the word document again the "Linked Worksheet Object" changes back to an "object" again and I have to take the same steps to update a linked table in word after changes made to it in excel.

This is happening in the Word and Excel provided by the Microsoft 365 Personal subscription. I am using a Dell Latitude 3500 and Surface Pro 7 under this subscription but am only having this issue when using the Dell Latitude 3500. I have checked all the Options in Word & Excel and they are the same on both computers. I have also checked the Registry Editor and everything related to Word & Excel looks to be the same on both.

What is going on? Better yet, how do I fix this and get back to normal?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-12-02T01:51:22+00:00

    All, I have been stumped by this issue for the past few months as well. and have yet to find a resolution or effective workaround.

    From my analysis, the issue seems to relate to the way that MS Word is storing the underlying link code (Alt+F9).

    I have noted that the link code, when newly initially pasted, is well formed with quotes around the "Workbook File Path" and the "Worksheet!ArrayName." When the file is saved and reopened the "Worksheet!ArrayName" is somehow moved to the end of the file path, leaving the "" abandoned, and cannot be updated. However, if you double-click on the link and the linked table array is opened in Excel, the code in Word is changed back to the initial format but with all "" now redacted. Below is a timeline of the code changes:

    Hopefully, this can provide some insight into the underlying cause or an effective workaround!

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-10-24T18:26:55+00:00

    Our outsourced IT firm has been in touch with Microsoft about this issue in the last week. Microsoft confirmed this is a known issue with multiple tenants affected. They have concluded that the manual update option is broken for both online and locally stored files. There is no ETA on a fix. For now, the suggested workaround is to use the "automatic update" option within Word instead of manual updates.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-10-17T19:07:04+00:00

    Our experience exactly. We’ve put a lot of hours in this as we have whole departments using Word to Excel linking for client documents.

    I work in IT and none of our staff has found a technical resolution despite dozens of documented troubleshooting trials related to updates (Windows & Office), registry keys, plug-ins, security settings and more. We’ve created files from scratch with the same problem, so it’s not a legacy issue. It appears to be a formatting error in how linked addresses appear after saving, as we are able to fix it by correcting the address each image link.

    For now our best solution is a custom macro that searches for the issue and corrects the problem one by one. It doesn’t really fix the original issue but it does make our processes work normally again. We’ve had to add it to every linked document we use and it adds an extra step to everyone’s process, but so far it’s reliable.

    My guess is that there was a stealth change to how Office links files, as there is no mention of this in the patch notes for Word or Excel. Rolling back to earlier versions might work for some, but we are legally required to be up to date.

    If anyone finds a fix for this we will be very grateful.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-10-17T18:14:38+00:00

    I have just discovered this problem as well in Word files where we've had links from Excel in place for years. All of a sudden, the links go away as soon as the documents are closed and re-opened. Seems this started happening in August from several web searches I've done.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-09-23T19:21:59+00:00

    We were finally able to get our links to work again after we had our IT company uninstall MS Office and reinstall MS Office version 2202.

    Hi Kate, if possible could you let us know if this fix is still working for you?

    We are having this same issue in the month of September 2022 and it is causing severe issues with our files.

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