There are many people who want to learn about Excel to be able to use it more effectively. A workbook is the file in Microsoft Excel in which the data is entered and stored. Whereas, worksheet is a collection of cells, in which the data is written. Each workbook can have many worksheets. Workbook normally ahs a single theme like a complete story in a book. Link is known to be a formula that connects data from a cell in a workbook to another cell in another workbook or worksheet. Linking worksheets and workbooks makes it easier to update and eliminate data as per requirement. The one providing the data is known as the source worksheet and the one receiving the data is the destination worksheet. Any changes in the source would automatically update the destination worksheet when it is opened the next time. This linking of worksheets and workbooks saves a lot of time and minimize the chances of error, improving the data integrity on the whole.
Once, you decide each cell that is to be linked from the source and the destination worksheet, select the required cell from the source; click the COPY button on the tab or just right-click and select the option of COPY. Open the destination worksheet and select the cell where the link has to be made.
- For Excel 2007, after clicking on the destination cell, click the down arrow below PASTE from the HOME tab and the click on PASTE LINK.
- For Excel 2003, after clicking on the destination cell, click PASTE SPECIAL on the EDIT menu, and then click on PASTE LINK.
To remove the animated border around the source cell, just click ESC once you return to the source worksheet. If you notice the cell formula where the link has been made, you can see that it contains the name of the source workbook, filename, and cell reference to the source data.
Another method is to create a link manually between the two workbooks. First and the foremost thing to be kept in mind is that none of the workbooks should be closed. With both workbooks open, click on the cell from the workbook that you want to link to and enter this formula: “=[Book1]Sheet1!$A$5” and hit ENTER. Of course the name of the book, the sheet and the cell would be written according to the requirement