

Data Validation: It is possible that the data validation drop down list refers to a named range that in turn has external links.In the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager, check the formulas for external links. Go to the Home tab –> Conditional Formatting –> Manage Rules. Conditional Formatting: The only way an external link can land up in Conditional Formatting is through the custom formula.You can check the ‘Refers to’ column to spot external references. It will show you all the named ranges in the workbook. Named Ranges: Go to the Formula tab and click on Name Manager.Here are the steps to find external links in these places: Using ‘Find and Replace’ or ‘Edit Links’ as shown above would not identify external links in these above-mentioned features.

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So if you’re getting the update links prompt, also check the following for external links: Sometimes, you may find and remove all the external links, but still get a prompt as shown below: As a best practice, create a backup before doing this.

We can use this to find all the external links. This would mean that the reference would have the file name with. Find External Links using Find and ReplaceĬells with external links contain the name of the workbook to which it links.

Let’s see how each of these techniques work. Here are a couple of techniques you can use to quickly find external links in Excel:
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How to Find Externals Links and References in Excel However, if you have a lot of formulas, doing this manually can drive you crazy. If you’re working with a workbook that contains externals links and you have to share it with colleagues/clients, it’s better to remove these external links. If you delete the linked workbook file, change its name, or change its folder location, the data would not update. However, the drawback is that you always need to have that linked workbook available. The benefit of having an external link in your formula is that you can automatically update it when the data in the linked workbook changes. This part of the formula tells Excel to go to this workbook (Score.xlsx) and refer to the specified cell in the workbook. Note that the part highlighted in yellow is the external link (also called external reference). So your formula may look like something as shown below: When you create formulas in Excel and refer to a data point in an another workbook, Excel creates a link to that workbook.
