Retreiving data from separate heavy list

[Ringo]

Hello!
I need to import a number of info from an existing list, which is extremely heavy since it contains about 15.000 entries, onto a template I use at work. The list is a classical list, made of 20 or some columns, 1st and second columns being Last Name and SSN. The template is made of several worksheet, each representing a form. The first worksheet is my "master" that then propagates those pieces of information into the rest of the worksheets. What I currently do to import the data is to just copy the row I want and paste it on the 1st workshet. Then the info is automatically propagated into all of the worksheets. I would like to avoid the copy-and-paste phase as it is time consuming, and create instead a drop-down list in the first worksheet, my "master". The idea is to choose a Last Name or a SSN that then returns the rest of the info pertaining to that unique choice. How can I do that? I know how to create alist; if I copy that big list in my workbook, making it an additional worksheet, I can eaily make it. But I don't want that because otherwise my file becomes too heavy. Any suggestions? Please note that I cannot use VBA and need to stick to pure excel. Thank you!

[ExcelStefan]

You can access another workbook just as you would access another worksheet. Just open both workbooks, and select the range you want to get information of. All you have to do is to make sure that the source workbook always stays in the same folder (and doesn't change name of course). I would have both files in the same folder.

If it's not what you're looking for, post a sample file to show exactly what you want.