Microsoft Office

Part IV
Using Advanced Excel Features
“Phantom link” errors
You may open a workbook and see a message like the one shown in Figure 32.4. This message sometimes
appears even when a workbook contains no linked formulas. Often, these phantom links are created when
you copy a worksheet that contains names.
FIGURE 32.4
Excel’s way of asking you if you want to update links in a workbook.
First, try choosing Office ➪ Prepare ➪ Edit Links To Files to display the Edit Links dialog box. Then select
each link and click Break Link. If that doesn’t solve the problem, this phantom link may be caused by an
erroneous name. Choose Formulas ➪ Defined Names ➪ Name Manager and scroll through the list of
names. If you see a name that refers to #REF!, delete the name. The Name Manager dialog box has a Filter
button that lets you filter the names. For example, you can filter the lists to display only the names with
errors.
Using Excel’s Auditing Tools
Excel includes a number of tools that can help you track down formula errors. This section describes the
auditing tools built into Excel.
Identifying cells of a particular type
The Go To Special dialog box is a handy tool that enables you to locate cells of a particular type. To display
this dialog box, choose Home ➪ Editing ➪ Find & Select ➪ Go To Special, which displays the Go To
Special dialog box, as shown in Figure 32.5.
If you select a multicell range before displaying the Go To Special dialog box, the command
operates only within the selected cells. If a single cell is selected, the command operates on
the entire worksheet.
NOTE
You can use the Go To Special dialog box to select cells of a certain type, which can often help you identify
errors. For example, if you choose the Formulas option, Excel selects all the cells that contain a formula. If
you zoom the worksheet out to a small size, you can get a good idea of the worksheet’s organization (see
Figure 32.6).
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