Excel for Mac External Data Connections Have Been Disabled

Question

I am getting this unwanted security warning. How do I stop it?

Excel for Mac 16.20 (181202) under Mojave 10.14.1. Everything is current

Answer 1

Hi Danssmith,

The warning you are getting is because the document and/or the location is not trusted by Excel 2016 for Mac.

It is not specific to any one data connection, rather just the fact there is a data connection at all.

We would like to suggest you leave a comment to Excel for Mac UserVoice to improve our product.

Here is a related suggestion I have found for your reference: 

Get rid of the "Data connections have been disabled" error message that appears every time you import anything.

You can vote for it or leave a new suggestion.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Best Regards,

Gloria

Answer 2

Sorry, but that reply is no help. The warnings started with the last update of Excel. There is no external data connection, and no data have been imported.

Moreover, if there are links it is because I want the links. I know all about breaking links.

Recent Excel updates are very buggy, causing problems where there were none before.

I want to take control of Excel, not have it issue bogus warnings and keep me from completing operations that have always been possible.

How do I turn off the warnings?

Answer 3

Hi Danssmith,

Thanks for your reply.

Since you have not imported external data in the file and the warning still appears, please try to copy the content in the affected file to a new one to see if the warning still appears.

To better understand your situation and provide help for you, please help confirm some information:

1. Does the issue just happen after you update to version 16.20 (181202)?
2. Please capture a screenshot of the error message.
3. Does the issue happen with some specific files or even a new file? Where did you save the files, local or cloud location?

Best Regards,

Gloria

Answer 4

The issue occurred with the latest update to 16.20 (181202)

Screen shot attached. 

I no longer see an "Edit Links" option under Formulas.

The problem occurs with multiple workbooks, all local, none with known links and none with new data imports.

I will also say that changes to the ribbon icons are confusing and unwanted. Does Microsoft do these things because you are bored with the old icons? Such changes are dysfunctional, and a pain for users.

Answer 5

Hi Danssmith,

Thanks for your feedback.

Have you tried to copy the content in the affected workbook to a new one to see the result? What about a newly created workbook?

As you mentioned that the issue happens with all local workbooks, please try to run your Mac in safe mode to see if it helps.

In addition, could you please share the affected workbook with me in Private Message so that I can test with it from my side?

Please also share your Mac OS version with me and I will test in the same environment as yours.

For the change of the icons, we can quite understand that it may be inconvenient for users who are used to the old icons.

We would like to suggest you click the smile face in Office client to send a feedback or leave a comment to Office 365 UserVoice.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best Regards,

Gloria