In this article, we’re going to show you the top 3 reasons why do my Excel links keep breaking. To describe our methods to you, we’ve selected a dataset with 3 columns: Name, Age, and Department.
Why Do My Excel Links Keep Breaking: 3 Reasons with Solutions
1. If File or Folder Is Moved Then Excel Links Keep Breaking
Firstly, if we move our linked file or folder then our links will break. For that reason, we may get a “#REF!” error.
We can click on a cell and see our link location. To fix this problem follow our next steps.
Steps:
- Firstly, from the Data tab >>> select Edit Links.
After that, the Edit Links dialog box will appear.
- Secondly, click on “Check Status”.
After that, we’ll see the status as “Error: Source not found”.
- Thirdly, select Change Source…
A dialog box will appear.
- Then, navigate to the location of your file.
- After that, select the file.
- Finally, click on OK.
We’ll use “OK” as the status from the Edit Links dialog box.
- Then, click on Close.
Thus, we’ve solved the Excel links keep breaking issue.
Read More: How to Find Broken Links in Excel
2. Excel Links Keep Breaking If the File Is Renamed
If you rename the linked file or folder you may get an error. Here, our file is incorrectly named “dat.xlsx”. In our source file, we changed the name to “data.xlsx”. This will break our Excel link. To stop the Excel links from breaking, follow our steps.
Steps:
- Firstly, from the Home tab >>> Find & Select >>> click on Replace…
Then, the Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
- Secondly, click on Options >>.
- Thirdly, type-
- “Dat” in Find what: box.
- “Data” in the Replace with: box.
- Then, click on Replace All.
At this point, a confirmation dialog box will appear. Therefore, close that.
- Finally, click on Close.
In conclusion, we’ve solved the issue of links keep breaking in another way.
3. If File Gets Deleted Then Excel Links Keep Breaking
Our links will keep breaking if we delete the linked file or folder. Now we can restore files or folders if we didn’t delete them permanently. Therefore, we can only restore files if they are in the recycle bin.
Steps:
- Firstly, go to the recycle bin.
- Secondly, right-click on the file.
- Thirdly, click on Restore.
After that, if we check on the Excel file, the links are still broken.
- Then, select cell C5.
- After that, click on the formula box and hit ENTER.
- Finally, repeat it for the rest of the cells.
Thus, we’ve fixed our Excel broken links. Moreover, this is what the final step should look like.
Read More: [Fixed!] Break Links Not Working in Excel
Practice Section
We’ve provided practice datasets in the Excel file. Hence, you can try that to follow our step-by-step guide.
Download Practice Workbook
Conclusion
We’ve shown you 3 reasons why do my Excel links keep breaking and solutions to that problem. If you have any problems regarding these, feel free to comment below. Thanks for reading, keep excelling!
