Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Getting Rid of Workbook Links.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 18, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
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 choosing Links from the Edit menu and then selecting all the links and clicking 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:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
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 page:
http://www.manville.org.uk/software/findlink.htm
FindLink was written by Bill Manville and Name Manager by Jan Karel Pieterse, both Excel MVPs.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3159) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Getting Rid of Workbook Links.
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