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
    2023-03-31T13:20:55+00:00

    I have an end user experiencing a similar issue with embedded Excel object in a Word document. I'm wondering if it's caused by this same bug.

    When trying to open or edit the object, they receive "The program used to create this object is Excel. That program is either not installed on your computer is is not responding". I've checked all the recommended places and can't seem to resolve this. We can edit the object on other computers so it's not the document.

    Tried version 2301, 2302, 2303.

    Do you think this is caused by the same bug everyone else experiencing?

    Any guidance is appreciated.

    Thank you!

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-01-19T23:14:55+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.

    Reverting back to 2202 worked for me as well.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-12-05T18:38:19+00:00

    Meghan (or anyone),

    Have you found that switching the links to "Automatic" actual resolves the issue? I have not, updating table links still requires that I double-click on each table to open in Excel and then update (F9) each linked table.

    On my end, there is still in no ability to Update All (Alt+A, F9) and ensure that all tables within a document are current.

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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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