Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Getting Rid of Workbook Links.

Getting Rid of Workbook Links

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 23, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


Paula has a workbook that is linked to other workbooks. These are workbook links, not hyperlinks. She is looking for a way to break all of these types of links.

There are several ways you can approach such a task. One is to manually break the links by displaying the Data tab of the ribbon and clicking Edit Links in the Queries & Connections group. (If the Edit Links tool is not available, it means there are no links in the current workbook.) You can then select the links and click Break Link. You can even select all the links at once by creating a selection set (using Shift and Ctrl to compose the set) prior to clicking on Break Link.

If you prefer not to use the manual method, you can use a short macro to get rid of the links. The following is one example that will do the task:

Sub BreakLinks()
    Dim strLink
    For Each strLink In ActiveWorkbook.LinkSources
        ActiveWorkbook.BreakLink Name:=CStr(strLink), _
          Type:=xlExcelLinks
    Next strLink
End Sub

A third way to manage your links is to look to a third-party solution, such as FindLink or Name Manager. You can find them at the following pages:

http://www.manville.org.uk/software/findlink.htm
http://www.jkp-ads.com/OfficeMarketPlaceNM-EN.asp

FindLink was written by Bill Manville and Name Manager by Jan Karel Pieterse, both Excel MVPs.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9903) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Getting Rid of Workbook Links.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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