How to Remove External Links in Excel (8 Easy Methods)

While working with big projects in Excel, we often have to enter links from external sources to various points in our workbook. To reduce complexity, it is a wise idea to remove the external links after certain updates have occurred. Today I will be showing how to remove external links in Excel.

Find External Links in Excel

Before going through the methods to remove external links in Excel, you can read the article Find External Links in Excel to find the ways to find external links in Excel. Also, read the article to find out the ways to link excel sheets to another sheet.

How to Remove External Links in Excel: 8 Easy Methods

In this article, we describe 8 easy methods to remove external links in Excel. To do so, we will use Excel 365. You can use any available Excel version.

1. Using Edit Links Feature to Remove External Links from Cells

In this method, we will use the Edit Links feature to remove external links in Excel.

Steps:

• First of all, go to the Data tab.
• Then, from the Queries & Connections group >> select Edit Links.

• At this point, an Edit Links dialog box will appear.
• The dialog box will contain all the External links.
• Next, to delete an external link, click on that link.
• Here, we click on Book1.xlsx.
• After that, click on Break Line to remove the link.

• At this point, you will be shown a warning message from Microsoft Excel.
• Then, click on Break Links.

• As a result, you can we have removed the external link Book1.

• Repeat this process for all the links that you want to remove.
• Also, if you want to remove all the links together, press Ctrl on your keyboard and select all the links. Or press Ctrl + A.
• This will select all the links.

• Afterward, click on Break Link to remove all the links.
• Therefore, you can remove external links from the cells of your worksheet.

Read More: How to Remove Unknown Links in Excel

2. Use of Named Manager Feature to Remove External Link

There may be external links associated with the named ranges of your workbook. In this method, we will be showing how you can remove external links in excel using the Named Manager feature.

Steps:

• In the beginning, go to the Formulas tab.
• Then, from the Defined Names group >> select Define Name.

• At this point, a Name Manager dialog box will appear.
• Then, you can see the External Link in the dialog box.
• Further, to remove the link, we will click on the link >> select Delete.

• At this point, a warning will pop up >> click OK.

• Therefore, you can see that there is no external link in the Name Manager dialog box.
• Then, click on Close to get out of the dialog box.

Read More: How to Remove Hyperlink from Excel

3. Removing External Links from Pivot Tables

In this method, we will show you how you can remove external links from the Pivot Table. Here, we will insert a Pivot Table in a different Workbook. Then, we will copy the Pivot Table to a new Workbook. Therefore, the Pivot Table will contain an external link to it. Further, we will explain how you can get rid of the external link.

Steps:

• In the beginning, we will insert a Pivot Table.
• To do so, we will select the dataset by selecting cells B4:D9.
• After that, go to the Insert tab.
• Moreover, from the PivotTable group >> select From Table/Range.

• At this point, a PivotTable from table or range dialog box will appear.
• Then, we will select New Worksheet.
• In addition, click OK.

• Therefore, you can see the created Pivot Table in a Workbook that is named Book6.

• Furthermore, to copy the Pivot Table, we will select the Pivot Table >> press CTRL+C.

• Then, we will go to a new Workbook >> press CTRL+V.

• Therefore, you can see the Pivot Table.
• Next, to remove the external link from the Pivot Table, we will click on any cell of the Pivot Table.
• Then, go to the PivotTable Analyze tab.
• Moreover, from the Change Data Source group >> select Change Data Source.

• At this point, a Change PivotTable Data Source dialog box will appear.
• Then, in the Table/Range box, you can see the external link.
• Then, we will click on the external link >> press DELETE.

• Therefore, you can see there is no external link in the Table/Range box.
• Moreover, click OK.
• The external link from the pivot table will be removed.

Read More: How to Remove Hyperlink Permanently in Excel

4. Using Objects Feature to Remove External Links

In this method, we will remove external links from Objects.

Steps:

• In the first place, we will go to the Home tab.
• Then, from the Find & Select group >> select Go To Special.

• At the moment, a Go to Special dialog box will appear.
• Then, we will select Objects >> click OK.
• Then, you will see the external link for the object will be shown in the Formula Bar.

• Now, to remove the external link, go to the Formula Bar and clear the formula by pressing DELETE.
• Then click ENTER.

• If you have more than one object, then do this for all the objects.
• In this way, you can remove external links from the objects of your Excel Workbook.

Read More: How to Remove Email Link in Excel

5. Removing External Links from Chart

In this method, we will show how you can remove the external links from the chart.

Steps:

• Here, we have created a Column chart in the Workbook named BOOK1.

• After that, we copied the Column chart >> Paste it to a different Workbook.
• Therefore, you can see the Column chart in a different Workbook.

• Next, to find out the external link in the chart, we will click on any of the columns of the chart.
• As a result, you will see the external link in the Formula Bar.

• After that, we will clear the external link from the Formula Bar by pressing the BACKSPACE key.
• Then, press ENTER.

• Therefore, you can get rid of the external link.
• However, the chart will also be removed.

Read More: How to Remove Excel Links from Word Document

6. Using Find and Replace with Operator Symbol

In this method, we will use the operator “[“ in the Find and Replace dialog box to find all the external links. And afterward, we will remove the external links.

Steps:

• In the beginning, we will press the CTRL+F keys to bring out the Find and Replace dialog box.

• At this point, a Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
• Then, in the Find what box, we will type the “[“ operator.
• Moreover, click on Find All.

• Therefore, you can see all the external links that will appear.
• Then, we will click on the link we want to remove >> press DELETE.

• Hence, we will be able to remove the external link.

Here, you can select multiple external links by holding the CTRL key and selecting the external links. And you can press DELETE to get rid of all the external links at once.

Read More: How to Remove Broken Links in Excel

7. Use of File Extension in Find and Replace Method

In this method, we will use the file extension .xlsx in the Find and Replace dialog box to find all the external links. And afterward, we will remove the external links.

Steps:

• In the beginning, we will press the CTRL+F keys to bring out the Find and Replace dialog box.

• Afterward, a Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
• Then, in the Find what box, we will type .xlsx.
• This will bring out all the external links that have the .xlsx extension.
• Moreover, click on Find All.
• Therefore, you can see all the external links that will appear.

• Then, we select all the links by holding the CTRL key >> press DELETE.

• Therefore, you can see there are no external links in the Find and Replace dialog box.
• Hence, we remove the external links in Excel.

Read More: How to Delete Hidden Link in Excel

8. Using Compatibility Checker to Remove Excel External Links

In this method, we will use the compatibility checker to remove external links in Excel. This is a handy method to do the task.

Steps:

• First of all, go to the File tab.

• Then, from Info >> select Check for Issues.
• Moreover, select Check Compatibility.

• At this point, a Microsoft Excel – Compatibility Checker dialog box will appear.
• Then, we will mark Check compatibility when saving this workbook box.
• Along with that, click on Copy to New Sheet.

• Therefore, you can see the external links in a new sheet.

• Furthermore, we will right-click on a link >> select DELETE from the Context Menu.

• Then, a Delete dialog box will appear.
• Here, you will see that the Shift cells left are already marked.
• However, you can select any of the four options according to your needs.
• Click OK.

• Therefore, you can see that we remove the link.
• Here, you can remove all the links if you need.

Read More: [Solved]: Remove Hyperlink Not Showing in Excel

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the following Excel file and practice while reading this article.

Conclusion

Here, we show to you 8 easy methods to remove external links in Excel. Thank you for reading this article. We hope it was helpful. If you have any queries, please let us know in the comment section.

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