How to Break Links in Microsoft Excel

Can be a pain to eliminate them

Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool, but keeping your Excel files tidy and functional is often difficult. Hyperlinks can be a helpful way to connect your spreadsheet with external references, but they can also be a pain.

Whenever a user clicks that cell to edit it, it will open the link in your web browser. And if you send your Excel file to someone else, some links may no longer work. In this tutorial, we’ll explain how to break links in Excel.

To break linked data:

Note:You can useExcel’s VBA codeto break links in your current workbook automatically. However, such a macro will only delete the links when you clickBreak Linkas above, so setting it up isn’t worth the effort.

Excel professionals often give their ranges and cells defined names to make formulas and data validation drop-down rules easier to create. You can find links to external sources as follows:

If you aren’t sure where your links are, you can use the Excel Find feature to discover any external links:

Note:To find links within objects like graphs andpivot tables, you’ll have to open the properties for that object. For graphs, select the chart title. For pivot tables, select theAnalyzetab, then selectChangeData Source.

Whenever you copy cells and worksheets from other Excel workbooks, you also copy any external links to other worksheets. These no longer work in your new workbook and can be a pain to eliminate when tidying up your Excel spreadsheet.

However, with theseExcel tips, you can easily remove links in Excel and clean up your source files.

Jake Harfield is an Australian freelance writer whose passion is finding out how different technologies work. He has written for several online publications, focusing on explaining what he has learned to help others with their tech problems. He’s an avid hiker and birder, and in his spare time you’ll find him in the Aussie bush listening to the birdsong.Read Jake’s Full Bio

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