How to Link Data Across Worksheets in Excel 2016

Edited 4 months ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

Microsoft OfficeExcelWorksheetsLinkDataSpreadsheetFunctionsFormulasWindowsMacProductivityOrganization

Excel 2016 is a powerful tool widely used for handling data. One of its most useful features is the ability to link data across different worksheets within a workbook. This facilitates easy management and analysis of data spread across multiple sheets. Linking worksheets allows users to create dynamic worksheets that can update automatically when data in one sheet changes. This can save time and reduce errors, making your work more efficient and accurate.

Understanding the basics of linking worksheets

Before getting into the specifics of linking worksheets, it's important to understand what linking means in the context of Excel. Linking worksheets involves referencing a cell or range of cells in another worksheet. This means you're creating a connection between cells on one worksheet and another worksheet, allowing you to display or use information from the other sheet without duplicating the data.

Vocabulary

To better understand linking, let's get familiar with some basic terminology used in Excel:

• Workbook: This is the entire Excel file, which can contain multiple sheets.
• Worksheet: A single sheet within an Excel workbook.
• Cell Reference: Refers to a specific cell or range of cells within a worksheet.
• External Reference: Refers to data located outside the current workbook.

Benefits of linking worksheets

Linking worksheets offers several key benefits, making it an attractive feature for users working with complex datasets:

1. Consistency: Linked data ensures that figures remain consistent across worksheets.
2. Efficiency: Automatic updates reduce the time spent manually changing data in multiple places.
3. Reduction in errors: With automatic updating, the risk of human error is reduced.
4. Integration: Linking enables more integrated and easier reporting.

Creating links between worksheets

Linking data between worksheets in Excel 2016 is simple once you understand the process. Let's explore the steps involved:

Step 1: Start with the source data

The first step is to identify the data you want to link. Suppose you have two worksheets named "SalesData" and "Summary". "SalesData" contains monthly sales figures, and you want to summarize this data in the "Summary" worksheet.

Step 2: Prepare the destination sheet

Go to the "Summary" worksheet where you want to display the data from the "SalesData" worksheet. Select the cell where you want to display the linked data.

Step 3: Start linking

Click the cell in the "Summary" sheet where you want the linked data to appear. Enter an equal sign (=) as if you were going to enter a formula.

Step 4: Go to the source data

While editing the cell where you entered the equal sign, click the "SalesData" sheet tab to navigate to the source data. Once there, select the cell that contains the data you want to link. You'll notice that the cell reference to the source data is automatically added to the formula in the destination sheet.

Step 5: Complete the link

After selecting the source cell, press Enter. Excel creates a link from the selected cell in the "Summary" sheet to the cell in the "SalesData" sheet. Now, whenever the data in the source cell changes, the linked cell in the "Summary" sheet will update automatically.

Data linking example

Here is an example that shows the formal steps in an application:

Imagine that a workbook has two sheets - "JanuarySales" and "Annual Summary". The "JanuarySales" sheet contains the total sales figure in cell B10. You want this figure to appear in cell A2 in the "Annual Summary" sheet.

To achieve this:

• Open the "Annual Summary" worksheet.
• Select cell A2 where you want the linked data to display.
• Type = to start the linking process.
• Click the "JanuarySales" worksheet tab.
• Select cell B10.
• Press Enter to create the link.

Now, whenever the value in B10 of “January Sales” changes, the value in A2 of “Yearly Summary” will automatically update to reflect the change.

Linking different workbooks

Excel allows you to link data not only within worksheets of the same workbook, but also across different workbooks. This is called creating an external reference.

Creating external references

To link data from one workbook to another, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Open both workbooks. For example, workbooks "DataSource.xlsx" and "DataSummary.xlsx".
• Step 2: In the “Data Summary” workbook, go to the worksheet and cell in which you want to place the linked data.
• Step 3: Type an equal sign (=) in that cell.
• Step 4: Go to “DataSource.xlsx” and select the cell whose data you want to link.
• Step 5: Press Enter.

External links formula representation

The external link formula will look something like this:

=[DataSource.xlsx]Sheet1!A1

Here, DataSource.xlsx is the name of the external workbook, Sheet1 stands for the worksheet, and A1 represents the cell within that sheet.

Updating linked data

The linked data will update automatically when the source workbook is open; however, if the source workbook is closed while you make changes to the data, you may have to manually update the link.

Manual link update

To manually update the link, go to the "Data" tab on the ribbon, and click "Edit Links" in the "Connections" group. This provides options to update, change the source, or break the link.

Best practices when linking data in Excel

To ensure that your linked data works effectively, consider the following best practices:

• Keep workbooks organized: Name your worksheets and workbooks intuitively to easily identify data sources.
• Maintenance: Regularly check the accuracy of links, especially when moving or renaming files.
• Documentation: Maintain a list of linked files and sources to trace where the data is coming from.
• Security: Make sure proper permissions are in place to protect sensitive data when sharing workbooks.

Conclusion

The ability to link data across worksheets in Excel 2016 is a feature that can greatly increase the flexibility and functionality of your spreadsheets. By creating links, you can easily manage and analyze data without repeating information, thereby maintaining a well-organized and error-free dataset. Learning how to link data effectively can make workflow processes more efficient and ultimately save time while ensuring data accuracy.

Excel's ability to seamlessly link worksheets and workbooks opens the door to better data management and practical data analysis tasks, making it an indispensable tool in both professional and personal applications. Taking advantage of this feature of Excel 2016 can significantly contribute to productive and effective data analysis, reporting, and management.

  Share This Article

If you find anything wrong with the article content, you can request an update