Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks

You need that reference or else Excel won't know where to link to.

There is one option you could use, which is to copy the tab from the
external sheet into your current one. To do that, make sure both worksheets
are open, go to the workbook with the tab you want to copy, right click on
it, and select "Move or Copy". Then, choose the worksheet you want to copy
the tab to and make sure "Create a Copy" is selected.

Hope that helps
--
Regards,

David Billigmeier



"ChrisK" wrote:

Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks

Thanks David for the reply - but I'm not sure this answers my question.

For example if I link to another worksheet (+2006 Budget Worksheet -
Marketing.xls]2006 MONTHLY'!$C$24) It automatically puts the "$" absolute
reference in there. If I have many links and I want to copy it down, I have
to remove the "$" which can take a lot of time given the amount of files I am
linking to .

Is there a way to link an external file without getting the "$" symbol? Thanks



"David Billigmeier" wrote:

You need that reference or else Excel won't know where to link to.

There is one option you could use, which is to copy the tab from the
external sheet into your current one. To do that, make sure both worksheets
are open, go to the workbook with the tab you want to copy, right click on
it, and select "Move or Copy". Then, choose the worksheet you want to copy
the tab to and make sure "Create a Copy" is selected.

Hope that helps
--
Regards,

David Billigmeier



"ChrisK" wrote:

Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks

*Exactly* how are you creating your link?

= sign and navigating?

Copy & Paste Spec - Link?

How?
--
Regards,

RD

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please keep all correspondence within the NewsGroup, so all may benefit !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ChrisK" wrote in message
...

Thanks David for the reply - but I'm not sure this answers my question.

For example if I link to another worksheet (+2006 Budget Worksheet -
Marketing.xls]2006 MONTHLY'!$C$24) It automatically puts the "$" absolute
reference in there. If I have many links and I want to copy it down, I
have
to remove the "$" which can take a lot of time given the amount of files I
am
linking to .

Is there a way to link an external file without getting the "$" symbol?
Thanks



"David Billigmeier" wrote:

You need that reference or else Excel won't know where to link to.

There is one option you could use, which is to copy the tab from the
external sheet into your current one. To do that, make sure both
worksheets
are open, go to the workbook with the tab you want to copy, right click
on
it, and select "Move or Copy". Then, choose the worksheet you want to
copy
the tab to and make sure "Create a Copy" is selected.

Hope that helps
--
Regards,

David Billigmeier



"ChrisK" wrote:

Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in
an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have
absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within
the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks

To get my link I wither hit the "=" or the "+" and find the cell I want to
link to. If I use an external file it will put the absolute reference in
there automatically. Then if I want to copy that link down I have to remove
the absolute reference for each link. I'm just looking for a shortcut. Thanks

"RagDyer" wrote:

*Exactly* how are you creating your link?

= sign and navigating?

Copy & Paste Spec - Link?

How?
--
Regards,

RD

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please keep all correspondence within the NewsGroup, so all may benefit !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ChrisK" wrote in message
...

Thanks David for the reply - but I'm not sure this answers my question.

For example if I link to another worksheet (+2006 Budget Worksheet -
Marketing.xls]2006 MONTHLY'!$C$24) It automatically puts the "$" absolute
reference in there. If I have many links and I want to copy it down, I
have
to remove the "$" which can take a lot of time given the amount of files I
am
linking to .

Is there a way to link an external file without getting the "$" symbol?
Thanks



"David Billigmeier" wrote:

You need that reference or else Excel won't know where to link to.

There is one option you could use, which is to copy the tab from the
external sheet into your current one. To do that, make sure both
worksheets
are open, go to the workbook with the tab you want to copy, right click
on
it, and select "Move or Copy". Then, choose the worksheet you want to
copy
the tab to and make sure "Create a Copy" is selected.

Hope that helps
--
Regards,

David Billigmeier



"ChrisK" wrote:

Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in
an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have
absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within
the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks

ChrisK wrote...
Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within the same
sheet only external worksheets.

This is core Excel functionality. External references are just treated
differently than internal references. No way to change this. Only
possible to learn to live with it.

Try this:

Enter the = sign in the target cell,
Navigate to the source cell,
Click in that cell and you see the marquee (marching ants) around it, while
the formula bar displays the path with the absolute addresses.

Nothing looks selected in the formula bar ... BUT ...
NOW ... hit
<F4
3 times, and you'll see the references change to relative.

*NOW* hit <Enter.

--

HTH,

RD
================================================== ===
Please keep all correspondence within the Group, so all may benefit!
================================================== ===

"ChrisK" wrote in message
...
To get my link I wither hit the "=" or the "+" and find the cell I want to
link to. If I use an external file it will put the absolute reference in
there automatically. Then if I want to copy that link down I have to remove
the absolute reference for each link. I'm just looking for a shortcut.
Thanks

"RagDyer" wrote:

*Exactly* how are you creating your link?

= sign and navigating?

Copy & Paste Spec - Link?

How?
--
Regards,

RD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Please keep all correspondence within the NewsGroup, so all may benefit !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-

"ChrisK" wrote in message
...

Thanks David for the reply - but I'm not sure this answers my question.

For example if I link to another worksheet (+2006 Budget Worksheet -
Marketing.xls]2006 MONTHLY'!$C$24) It automatically puts the "$"
absolute
reference in there. If I have many links and I want to copy it down, I
have
to remove the "$" which can take a lot of time given the amount of files
I
am
linking to .

Is there a way to link an external file without getting the "$" symbol?
Thanks



"David Billigmeier" wrote:

You need that reference or else Excel won't know where to link to.

There is one option you could use, which is to copy the tab from the
external sheet into your current one. To do that, make sure both
worksheets
are open, go to the workbook with the tab you want to copy, right
click
on
it, and select "Move or Copy". Then, choose the worksheet you want to
copy
the tab to and make sure "Create a Copy" is selected.

Hope that helps
--
Regards,

David Billigmeier



"ChrisK" wrote:

Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts
in
an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have
absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within
the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks

I like David's idea, but I think you should move the worksheet(s), then do all
your formulas, then move the worksheet(s) back.

Then the links will adjust to the correct workbook, too.

ChrisK wrote:

Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks

--

Dave Peterson

I was just searching for this information. I thought that was the answer. The
answer given by another reader to hit F4 three times is correct, but not
effective if there are multiple references in the same cell.

It would be great to have the default for links to be relative instead of
absolute.

Thanks for the information, everyone.

"Harlan Grove" wrote:

ChrisK wrote...
Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within the same
sheet only external worksheets.

This is core Excel functionality. External references are just treated
differently than internal references. No way to change this. Only
possible to learn to live with it.

I know the post is old, but I could not find an answer elsewhere in the
forum. After you paste the data, go to Edit, Find and Replace, then find
'[*] and replace with ' . You need to select Within
-Workbook and Look In -Formulas. The Replace All. This will replace all
instances of cells referencing the linked absolute file, indicated by the
[filename.xls] reference.

"ChrisK" wrote:

Everytime I link an cell to another workbook, it automatically puts in an
absolute reference. Is there a setting I can change so I do not have absolute
references appear. This does not happen when you link a cell within the same
sheet only external worksheets.

Thanks