Break All External Links In Your Excel Workbook
What This Does
This little macro code will go through all the external links in your workbook and break the links. Note that this will not remove those pesky (hard-to-find) external links that may be hiding inside your charts. This code only addresses links that would show up inside the Edit Links dialog box (Data tab > Connections Group > Edit Links).
Sub BreakExternalLinks()
'PURPOSE: Breaks all external links that would show up in Excel's "Edit Links" Dialog Box
'SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com/the-code-vault
Dim ExternalLinks As Variant
Dim x As Long
Dim BreakCounter As Long
'Create an Array of all External Links stored in Workbook
ExternalLinks = ActiveWorkbook.LinkSources(Type:=xlLinkTypeExcelLinks)
If IsEmpty(ExternalLinks) = True Then GoTo ReportResults
'Loop Through each External Link in ActiveWorkbook and Break it
For x = 1 To UBound(ExternalLinks)
ActiveWorkbook.BreakLink Name:=ExternalLinks(x), Type:=xlLinkTypeExcelLinks
BreakCounter = BreakCounter + 1
Next x
'Report to User how many External Links were Broken
ReportResults:
MsgBox "External Links Broken: " & BreakCounter
End SubIf you would like to learn more about External Links and how to find them within your spreadsheet, you can check out my dedicated guide on how to Find And Break All External Links In Excel File.
Using VBA Code Found On The Internet
Now that you’ve found some VBA code that could potentially solve your Excel automation problem, what do you do with it? If you don’t necessarily want to learn how to code VBA and are just looking for the fastest way to implement this code into your spreadsheet, I wrote an article (with video) that explains how to get the VBA code you’ve found running on your spreadsheet.
Getting Started Automating Excel
Are you new to VBA and not sure where to begin? Check out my quickstart guide to learning VBA. This article won’t overwhelm you with fancy coding jargon, as it provides you with a simplistic and straightforward approach to the basic things I wish I knew when trying to teach myself how to automate tasks in Excel with VBA Macros.
Also, if you haven’t checked out Excel’s latest automation feature called Power Query, I have put together a beginner’s guide for automating with Excel’s Power Query feature as well! This little-known built-in Excel feature allows you to merge and clean data automatically with little to no coding!
How Do I Modify This To Fit My Specific Needs?
Chances are this post did not give you the exact answer you were looking for. We all have different situations and it’s impossible to account for every particular need one might have. That’s why I want to share with you: My Guide to Getting the Solution to your Problems FAST! In this article, I explain the best strategies I have come up with over the years to get quick answers to complex problems in Excel, PowerPoint, VBA, you name it!
I highly recommend that you check this guide out before asking me or anyone else in the comments section to solve your specific problem. I can guarantee that 9 times out of 10, one of my strategies will get you the answer(s) you are needing faster than it will take me to get back to you with a possible solution. I try my best to help everyone out, but sometimes I don’t have time to fit everyone’s questions in (there never seem to be quite enough hours in the day!).
I wish you the best of luck and I hope this tutorial gets you heading in the right direction!
After 10+ years of creating macros and developing add-ins, I've compiled all the hacks I wish I had known years ago!
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Chris Newman
Chris is a finance professional and Excel MVP recognized by Microsoft since 2016. With his expertise, he founded TheSpreadsheetGuru blog to help fellow Excel users, where he shares his vast creative solutions & expertise. In addition, he has developed over 7 widely-used Excel Add-ins that have been embraced by individuals and companies worldwide.