Can’t Break Links in Microsoft Excel? Try These 6 Fixes

A frustrating problem for many users

If you’re working in Excel, you might have encountered a situation where you can’t break links to external references. This can be frustrating, especially if you want to update your data sources or share your workbook without sharing the source files.

But don’t worry, there are some fixes you can try to break those stubborn links, free your Excel data, and make your workbook independent. If you can’t break links in Microsoft Excel, follow the steps below.

Before we dive into the fixes, let’s understand why break links might not work in the first place. When you link data from another workbook or worksheet, Excel creates a connection that allows you to update the data automatically. However, sometimes you might want to break this connection and keep only the values in your workbook.

To do this, you can use theEdit Linksoption on theDatatab. This will show you a list of external references that are linked to your workbook. You can then select the link you want to break and clickBreak Link. This will replace the formulas that use the link with their current values.

However, sometimes this command might not work or might not show all the links. This could be because:

If any of these scenarios apply to your workbook, you’ll need to try some of the methods we’ve outlined below to try and break the link.

How to Unprotect an Excel Sheet

One of the simplest fixes you can try is to unprotect the sheet or workbook that contains the link. This will allow you to edit or delete the link without any restrictions.

To unprotect a sheet, right-click on the sheet tab and selectUnprotect Sheet. If prompted, enter the password and clickOK. You’ll need to repeat this for any other sheets that contain external links that you can’t break.

To unprotect an entire workbook, pressFile>Info. Next, pressProtect Workbook>Protect Workbook Structure, then pressProtect Workbook>Encrypt with Password. Delete the password from the file for both options (when prompted to) and clickOK.

When you’re done, pressSave, then close the workbook and reopen it (just to check that the password is removed).

After unprotecting the sheet or workbook, try opening theData>Edit Linksmenu again to see if theBreak Linkoption is grayed out. If it isn’t, use it to remove any external links that remain.

How to Delete Named Ranges

Another possible fix is to delete any named ranges or defined names that use external references. A named range is a group of cells that has a name assigned to it. A defined name is a formula that has a name assigned to it. You can use these names in formulas instead of cell references.

To delete named ranges or defined names, follow these steps:

Repeat this for any other names that use external references. Once you’re done, pressData>Edit Linksand check that theBreak Linkoption remains grayed out for any remaining external links. If it isn’t, remove the links from your spreadsheet.

Another possible fix is to remove any external links fromcharts in Excelthat you’ve created. A chart or a chart element might use an external reference as its source data or as its formatting option.

You may need to set up your data first. For instance, if you’re using external data from another sheet, you may need to move or copy the data to your existing sheet to break the link.

To remove external links from charts or chart elements in Excel, follow these steps:

Repeat these steps for any other charts or chart elements that use external references. After removing the external links from your charts, pressData>Edit Linksto see if you can break any links that remain.

You may need to check and remove external links fromdata validation rules. A data validation rule might use an external reference as its source data or as its criteria.

For example, you might have a drop-down list that depends on a named range in another workbook, or a rule that restricts the values based on values in another worksheet. To remove external links from data validation rules, follow these steps:

Repeat for any further external links, then check that you can remove them by pressingData>Edit Links>Break Link.

Another possible fix is to remove any external links from conditional formatting rules. A conditional formatting rule might use an external reference as its source data or as its criteria. For example, you might have a rule that changes the color of a cell based on a value in another workbook or worksheet.

To remove external links from conditional formatting rules, follow these steps:

After removing external links from conditional formatting rules, pressData>Edit Links>Break Linkto remove the links completely.

Still having trouble? One quick way to manually remove external links from your Excel file is to temporarily convert your Excel file into azip fileinstead. You can do this by renaming the file extension in File Explorer manually, but only if the file isn’t encrypted so the Excel data can still be viewed, but not edited.

Once you’ve changed the extension, you can extract the contents and remove a hidden folder (calledexternalLinks) from the zip file. This folder stores the information about the external references in your workbook. Once you’re done, you can then compress the file and restore the original Excel file type.

Before you begin, make sure you make a copy of your Excel file first. You don’t want to do this with your original file, just in case the file becomes corrupted.

Once you’ve renamed the zip file, open it in Excel and check that it’s still working. You should be able to check that the links are removed by opening theEdit Linksmenu—if they aren’t, you should be able to remove them at this point.

Managing Your Excel Data

Using the steps above, you can quickly try and find ways to break external links in your Microsoft Excel workbook. You can also trymerging data from your Excel workbooksinto a new file that lacks external links. Alternatively, you could save your file using a different Excel file type, such asXLSXfromXLS(or vice versa).

Struggling to find troublesome data? You can alwaysuse the search functionality in Excelto help you.

Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing.Read Ben’s Full Bio

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