Excel won't allow me to "break link"

G

ghard1

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
331
Hello,

I have done this a thousand times in the past but can't seem to get this one to work. I have a workbook which contains links to other files and I would like to break these links. However, I can't seem to get one of the links to break. I don't get an error message or anything. I have actually attempted to delete the pages containing links and re-insert them. Yet it will still not allow me to break these.

Any ideas on how to break these?

Thanks.
 

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I have tried that. It normally works but in this case it does not. The link remains. I have even tried renaming the source file, saving it to a different location, changing the source file etc but nothing seems to work. It only appears to happen with one particular workbook which of course contains all the data I require.
 
Upvote 0
ghard1 said:
I figured it out, thanks to the following thread:

http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=371273&highlight=break+link

I had names defined in my workbook which I had to delete prior to attempting to break the link. Once these names were deleted, I was able to break the links using Edit, Links, Break link.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hey

I have the same issue - I have a link I can't break and so thought I would try doing what you did with the defined named fields but it hasn't worked - anyone got any other ideas please?

Thanks
Steph
 
Upvote 0
MonkeyFace28 said:
Hey

I have the same issue - I have a link I can't break and so thought I would try doing what you did with the defined named fields but it hasn't worked - anyone got any other ideas please?

Thanks
Steph
Click to expand...


I also had the same issue and got confused why break links would not work. It turns out break links does not work on Conditional Formatting rules. So when you copy and paste cells between 2 workbooks you might end up bringing across some unwelcome Conditional Formatting rules.

To resolve this I went to Home tab -> Conditional Formatting -> Clear Rules From Entire Sheet. Or you could remove just the affected rules your not using. Then you have to save and close your workbook then reopen the workbook for the Edit Links screen to refresh and now there are no links. Clicking Edit Links without reopening the workbook will still show the old link!
 
Upvote 0
MonkeyFace28 said:
Hey

I have the same issue - I have a link I can't break and so thought I would try doing what you did with the defined named fields but it hasn't worked - anyone got any other ideas please?

Thanks
Steph
Click to expand...
Come across this when I am dealing with the same issue.

If it is from an old excel file generated by someone else who had used "name manager" to define an external value, the issue might happen. Try "formulas" - "name manager", delete the names with invalid "refers to" value.
 
Upvote 0
BettyShane said:
Hey,

Even I had the same issue. Excel offers a function to break links, but this function only works with the links within formulas. Usually normal workbook links within formulas can be cut easily using Edit links function in Excel.

Go to data ribbon
If the Edit links button is not grey in color then it means there is at least one active link to another data source. Click on that button
Select all the data links you would like to kill.
click on break line
Click to expand...
This is the official and only solution from Microsoft but it won't work for most cases. OP and other posts including have tried "break line" but nothing changed. Try my "formulas - name manager" method.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0
Here's one! Look for link in Data Validation.

I get his one sometimes. If you create and in-cell dropdown from a list or table, then copy that sheet to a new book, the dropdown list can hide the link on you. You can Clear Validation on those cells, then Break Links as normal.
 
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