Comments on: Excel 2007 Error: Link source not found

By: Peg Molter

Peg Molter — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:05:19 +0000

Stan,

You just saved me additional painful hours of frustrating work. Thanks so much for the range name hint.

Peg Molter
FTC&H

By: Imran

Imran — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:26:21 +0000

Source not found – Solution
Hi,

Please check the option – (Ask to update automatic links) going to – Tools – Options – Edit and this should resolve the problem. Please let me know the status. Thank you.

Imran

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:15:50 +0000

I saw this error today. Apparently after you change or update the source, you have to click on update values, otherwise the changes you made don’t stick.

By: Ravi

Ravi — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:17:34 +0000

Hi,

you will see the file extension when you save files if you have unchecked the option ” hide file extensions of known flile types” in the folder options for windows. Check this option and you should not be seeing the extension of file types when you save them or view them on windows explorer

thanks’
Ravi

By: mhel bergola

mhel bergola — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:24:26 +0000

why is it when im going to save on excel, the filename comes with .xls (filaname.xls) though i dont input the “.xls” extention on it. hope u can help me resolving this issue. tnx

By: Ravi

Ravi — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:22:10 +0000

Hi Simon,

the reason the links give a #REF! error is because Excel recalculates the work book.entire workbook and also forces to update external links.The following Microsoft Article talks about the workaround/Cause of teh issue :
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925893

By: Stan Scott

Stan Scott — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:47:59 +0000

I had this same error about a month ago. Here’s what did the trick for me.

For some unknown reason, there was a hidden range name that was a reference to another workbook.

I made all the ranges visible with a simple FOR loop:

For Each n In ActiveWorkbook.Names
n.Visible = True
Next

then listed them out and there it was.

This may not be the problem you’re having, but I thought I’d add this, in case anybody could use it.

Stan

By: GeoLS

GeoLS — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:52:05 +0000

It ironic I am having this same problem today. I am a little confused on the solution to this problem. What do you mean by create a new profile?

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:47:11 +0000

Harlan They were saved as book1.xlsm and book2.xlsm
I thought the edit links showed the full path (or at least the name +.xls) on wbs that are closed, but just the ‘friendly name’ on wbs that are open. On checking I see what you mean in 2003 it should say book2.xls, not just book2.

That might be a quirk of the screen shots used. We tried for any number of files and anything with a link initially could not update, and that is the issue. When you click close on the 2nd dialog it updates fine.

By: Harlan Grove

Harlan Grove — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:32:59 +0000

Workbooks named Book2 and Book2.xls are different files. If you save an ext ref to Book2 before it has been saved, then the ext ref is to a file named Book2, not a file named Book2.xls. If you close Book1, save the source wb as Book2 (by entering “Book2.” in the filename field when saving it the first time), then either leave it open or close and reopen it then reopen Book1, there’s no problem. Excel 2003 can evaluate =[Book2]Sheet1!A1 because there’s an open file with base filename Book2.

However, if you save the source wb as Book2.xls, then when you reopen the other wb, Excel (in my opinion) correctly complains about not being able to find the linked wb named Book2.

This all comes down to how you or I answer the question ‘Should Excel treat BASENAME and BASENAME.XLS as the name of the same file?’ You seem to believe it should, I believe it shouldn’t. Call this a picky syntactic quirk, but filename extensions matter to Excel.

You’re not clear about precisely how you’re saving the source wb. Are you saving it by entering “Book2.” (or whatever) in the filename field or pressing Enter/clicking the OK button? If the latter, you’re saving the source wb as Book2.xls rather than as Book2. That makes all the difference, at least for Excel 2003.