Microsoft Office

Part IV
Using Advanced Excel Features
Linking has its downside, however. External reference formulas are somewhat fragile, and accidentally severing
the links that you create is relatively easy. You can prevent this mistake if you understand how linking
works. Later in the chapter, I discuss some problems that may arise, as well as how to avoid them (see
“Avoiding Potential Problems with External Reference Formulas”).
Creating External Reference Formulas
You can create an external reference formula by using several different techniques:
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Type the cell references manually. These references may be lengthy because they include
workbook and sheet names (and, possibly, even drive and path information). The advantage
of manually typing the cell references is that the source workbook doesn’t have to be open. The
disadvantage is that it’s very error-prone.
Point to the cell references. If the source workbook is open, you can use the standard pointing
techniques to create formulas that use external references.
Paste the links. Copy your data to the Clipboard. Then, with the source workbook open, choose
Home ➪ Clipboard ➪ Paste ➪ Paste Link. Excel pastes the copied data as external reference
formulas.
Choose Data ➪ Data Tools ➪ Consolidate. For more on this method, see the section
“Consolidating worksheets by using the Consolidate command,” later in this chapter.
Understanding the link formula syntax
The general syntax for an external reference formula is as follows:
=[WorkbookName]SheetName!CellAddress
Precede the cell address with the workbook name (in brackets), the worksheet name, and an exclamation
point. Here’s an example of a formula that uses cell A1 in the Sheet1 worksheet of a workbook named
Budget:
=[Budget.xlsx]Sheet1!A1
If the workbook name or the sheet name in the reference includes one or more spaces, you must enclose
the text in single quotation marks. For example, here’s a formula that refers to cell A1 on Sheet1 in a workbook
named Annual Budget.xlsx:
=’[Annual Budget.xlsx]Sheet1’!A1
When a formula refers to cells in a different workbook, you don’t need to open the other workbook. If the
workbook is closed and not in the current folder, you must add the complete path to the reference; for
example:
=’C:\Data\Excel\Budget\[Annual Budget.xlsx]Sheet1’!A1
Creating a link formula by pointing
Entering external reference formulas manually is usually not the best approach because you can easily make
an error. Instead, have Excel build the formula for you, as follows:
1. Open the source workbook.
2. Select the cell in the dependent workbook that will hold the formula.
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