Maintaining LINKS from Word to Excel

[operabuffo]

This may be a Word question but since it involves both Word and Excel the rules and process may be common. I am using Paste Special in Word to link to large worksheets in Excel. It works OK until I try to move the files to another location. I have set the LINKS in Word to automatic update but when I e-mail the files and try to view the data from the document on a second machine the links are broken.

Is there a fix other than manually updating all the links?

[JBeaucaire]

That's not what "automatic updating" means. That refers to the data being referenced updating automatically. If you move external files you will break the links.

Off the top of my head, I would suggest maybe using shortcuts for your links. In a folder you have shortcuts to your actual files. Any time you need to move a file, you do so, then drop in a replacement shortcut in the folder. That way Word/Excel will always see the same thing since the shortcut would always be in the same place.

[operabuffo]

Thanks and thanks for correcting my understanding. I guess I knew that but was having trouble so interpreted it in a way that would help me.

Your suggestion doesn't exactly fix th problem of e-mailing the document and having the links work for the recipient.

[JBeaucaire]

If you're putting externally referenced documents on your local system, then emailing the main doc out to others, there's no reason to expect them to be able "update" the doc when they receive it.

The only way they can "update" those external documents is if:

a) They are on the same network as you and the external documents (or shortcuts we talked about) are on a shared/public part of the network

b) The externally referenced docs are published somewhere accessible over the internet.

Referencing external data is helpful in many ways, but it's not necessarily a friend to the "dispersal" of the main document. Something to consider.