Excel links stopped working

Question

I have been using this link for years, and it just stopped working along with a lot of my other links. I cannot find a fix for it.

=HYPERLINK("[C:\Users\[Removed PII]\Dropbox\PC\Documents\Documents\Westside Knowledge Base\Westside Knowledge Base.xlsx]'Work Order Report'!B5","Work Order Report")

It will not work in a separate workbook, but if I plug it into the workbook where the sheet exists, it works fine. How do I resolve the problem?

Answer 1

Hi @Richard Mitchell,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your sharing, I have tested in my current testing environment, and I likely experience the same issue as you do. This is the results from my testing so you can confirm whether this is the same behavior as you are experiencing:

Excel version: Version 2602 Build 19725.20072

Steps taken:

• Create a test destination sheet Test and save the file named Destination.xlsx in Desktop folder
• Open a new folder and use the formula: =HYPERLINK("[C:\Users\"Removed PII"\Desktop\Destination.xlsx]'Test'!A1","Go")

Results:

• The formula results error cannot find the destination, but if the formula is used inside the Destination.xlsx file, it works properly.

• In further testing, if only open the workbook with =HYPERLINK("[C:\Users\"Removed PII"\Desktop\Destination.xlsx]","Go") formula, it still works normally unless opening the file and navigate to a specific sheet.

Based on the HYPERLINK function - Microsoft Support, the formula should work properly as you mentioned "using for years". Therefore, this is likely a new issue related to a new update in Excel or Windows system. However, I have researched through Microsoft product help and other official information sources but up to now, there is no help article or announcement found and also no troubleshooting guidance addressing this issue.

I strongly recommend submitting in-app feedback so that your experience can be formally logged with our engineering team. You can do this from Excel > Help > Feedback or go to Microsoft 365 Feedback Hub > send feedback. 

For now, I highly recommend upvoting this answer as well. That way, other users who encounter the same question will see the clarification, and more of them may report similar problem, helping to bring attention to the request. The more reports the team receives, especially from business users, the faster issues like this can be prioritized and resolved as soon as possible. 

I know this is not the experience you expected, and I want to thank you for your patience while the team works on improvements.  

Thank you for your understanding and corporation. Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with. 

Looking forward to your response.

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Answer 2

I'm new at this. How do you upvote?