Forum Discussion
Linking a cell from a OneDrive excel sheet to another OneDrive excel sheet in different workbooks
Create an external reference between cells in different workbooks
Open the workbook that will contain the external reference (the destination workbook, also called the formula workbook) and the workbook that contains the data that you want to link to (the source workbook, also called the data workbook).
In the source workbook, select the cell or cells you want to link.
Press Ctrl+C or go to Home > Clipboard > Copy.
Switch to the destination workbook, and then click the worksheet where you want the linked data to be placed.
Select the cell where you want to place the linked data, then go to Home > Clipboard > Paste > Paste Link.
Excel will return the data you copied from the source workbook. If you change it, it will automatically change in the destination workbook when you refresh your browser window.
To use the link in a formula, type = in front of the link, choose a function, type (, and then type ) after the link.
Hope I could help you with these information / links.
I know I don't know anything (Socrates)
Thank you for this - it has helped me! I have successfully linked cells from one sheet to another, in a different workbook. Is there a way to paste the formatting from the source to destination, and/or a way to remove the "0"s that appear in the destination sheet (coming from empty cells in the source), please?
Excel for the Web does not support copying formatting through “Paste Link.”
Linked values come through without formatting, and there is currently no automatic way to make the destination cell mirror formatting from the source.What Microsoft says about copy/paste in Excel for the Web
Copy and paste in Office for the web
The paste special function from Desktop Excel to WebApp Excel will not work reliably or at all.
Workaround suggestion:
You must manually apply formatting (font, color, number format, etc.) to the destination cells.
Once applied, the formatting will remain even as the linked values update.*If you need true mirror-formatting, that still requires the desktop app — not available in Excel for Web.
Removing the “0” From Linked Empty Cells
When the source cell is empty, Excel treats it as 0.
To avoid this, wrap the link in a formula like:Option A — Show blank instead of 0
=IF([LinkedCell]="","",[LinkedCell])
Example (adjust to your actual link):
=IF('[Workbook2.xlsx]SheetX'!A1="","",'[Workbook2.xlsx]SheetX'!A1)
Option B — Show something else (e.g., "-")
=IF([LinkedCell]="","-",[LinkedCell])
How to implement
- Paste the link normally using Paste > Paste Link.
It will produce something like: - =[Workbook2.xlsx]SheetX!A1
- Then edit the cell and wrap it with IF() as shown above.
- Paste the link normally using Paste > Paste Link.
