Pivot table won't refresh, "Reference is not valid" error

**Telperion** · 08-20-2013, 11:10 AM

I created a form for ordering office supplies, it's an .xltx template. There is a pivot table that summarizes what is to be ordered, and the intent is to be able to print the summarized order. Everything works fine, both in the template and in files saved off the template.

When I download the file from our support ticket portal, I can't refresh the pivot table until I save the file somewhere. Even if I click "Enable Editing", I still can't refresh the pivot table until the file is saved, as I get the error message "Reference is not valid". I checked the name manager and the pivot table source and they both refer to the correct range. It's inconvenient to have to save the file, even temporarily, before I can refresh the pivot table to get an order summary.

It appears to be related to the way that it's a temporary internet file until it's saved somewhere, but I've never seen this before.

What can I do to get it working?

(Edit note: I see others have reported this issue, but their only resolution seems to be to just save it first, which to me is not any real solution at all)

**interested** · 08-20-2013, 11:47 AM

Hi Telperion, I think the issue is trying to download the file. What I've done in the past is in my "master" workbook, gone to each "network" file and copied the pivot data from the workbook into mine. Excel links the pivot data back to original source even if you change the look of the pivot data. When you update the "master" all the network data is updated too. So create your pivots on a separate sheet in each network location. Hope this helps.

**Telperion** · 08-20-2013, 01:18 PM

Well in this scenario, there aren't multiple "network" files, it's a file hosted on a ticket portal, it's read-only. I don't need to save or link to other workbooks, I just need to be able to open it, refresh the pivot, and print. That's where my hang up is, I'm forced to save it to a drive before I can refresh the pivot table.