Excel Links in Word not working in Sharepoint file

Question

I have a Word document with several Excel links so that I can easily update the Excel file and push the changes to the Word document. Last year the two files (Word and Excel) were located on our network drive and the process worked seamlessly. This year we've migrated both files to our Sharepoint site. I needed to reset all the links because the links were absolute, not relative, but once reset, all the links worked as expected for a day. However, the next day none of the links would update, and once forced to update, would throw an error. This has happened for multiple days now, where the links work the day they are created and then not the next day.

Here is a more detailed description of the steps I've taken to set up the links and what I am seeing:

I create the link in Word by copying the desired Excel cell (which has a defined named) and going to Word -> Paste Special -> Unformatted Text. (A note: when pasted as a Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object, the link remained active after a day; however, the formatting is incompatible with the Word report.)

On the day I paste the link, when right clicking on the link, I see the following menu that contains the Update Link and Linked Worksheet Object items.

After selecting Links from the menu, I change Update Method to Manual Update and select Preserve formatting after update.

When I return a day later, the item still has a grey highlighted field indicating it's a link but when I attempt to right click to update the link, I do not see any options to update or indications that it's a link. If I force an update through the Links window accessed another way, the link updates to "Error! Not a valid link."

The Word and Excel files are accessed and updated by multiple users but I've ensure that all syncs are made and files up to date when trying to update links but I still am encountering this issue. I would appreciate any input. Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello Miller,

Appreciate for sharing the detailed information.

From the description shared, I understand the problem facing at your end and I performed the same steps at my end where I can reproduce the problem once I close the Word document and re-open it.

The problem happens when the link is set to either Manual or Automatic. however, this behavior works perfectly for the files stored in a non-cloud location like a local drive.

Moreover, I also tested the behavior in the Beta version of Office apps and I still see the same behavior. In this situation, the best way is to report the behavior to the related developing team via app feedback. Reference: How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?

Appreciate your patience and understanding. Have a good day and stay safe!!

Best Regards,

Chitrahaas

Answer 2

Thank you. I've submitted the feedback.