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
    2022-08-23T02:57:57+00:00

    Hey Doug,

    So now the same issue is happening on my Surface so this is not a hardware issue. And if I link an excel table to a word doc using the same steps as you noted above, the "Linked Worksheet Object" works correctly. However, after saving, closing, and re-opening the word and excel files, the "Linked Worksheet Object" changes to an "object" like I explained in my original post. This is a word and excel file created on the Surface and saved on its desktop, so I dont think is necessarily a OneDrive issue anymore.

    Also, towards the end of last week I reset the Dell computer to reinstall Windows 11, re-installed Microsoft 365 Personal and OneDrive, and the links all worked correctly like on your end after I completed all that. I'm also using Version 2207 (Build 15427.20210 Click-to-Run) Current Channel. The links worked correctly for word/excel files created and saved on OneDrive or created and saved on the desktop.

    Any ideas what could be going on? Do you think uninstalling Windows 11 and reinstalling Windows 10 might help for the time being?

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-08-19T02:20:21+00:00

    I finally got the links to work again. ONLY had to use the "Reset this PC (System Setting)" to reinstall Windows 11 and then reinstalled Office365 and OneDrive. Everything seems to be back to normal. Will be interesting to see if it stays that way. I put a 4-week pause on system updates.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-08-17T02:19:02+00:00

    Unfortunately this didnt fix the link problem on my end.

    And for whatever reason I am now getting this on the Dell when trying to paste an excel table link into word:

    I wish I knew why any of this was happening.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-08-16T17:44:33+00:00

    We tried this, and while it appears to fix the link problem, having to revert to the old binary Word version and its lack of formatting options seems like we are trading one problem for another.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-08-16T17:29:02+00:00

    David - Did this work for you? I, and my coworker also having this problem, are both working on Dell machines.

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