Forum Discussion
Migrate Excel files with a lot of links to SharePoint Online?
- DeletedJan 25, 2018
This is quite problematic for our users too, a lot of users got caught out by creating spreadsheets in OneDrive sync folder on their machine, linking there and then sharing the files. The Excel has a link reference to C:\user\<name>\One Drive - <Tenant Name>\Test.xlsx etc But of course the person using the file does not have access that persons c: drive so the <name> bit doesn't exist on their local drive.
Links to https:\\<onedrive location> tend to also be a little slow.
So its tricky, plus links like this can easily break spreadsheets and cause errors. I'm not sure I can count the times that someone has come to me asking me to check their spreadsheet because they think it might be wrong but they can't see where the issue is. Normally its a link or copying down etc.
If it was me, I would use the new feature built into Excel called PowerQuery, on the data tab, using SharePoint Folder link and avoid using links all together ... but this is a lot of work to change, but the long term benefits are huge.
This effectively queries the other spreadsheet, using a simple interface, so no need for vloopup or linking or calculations in the spreadsheet ... all calculations can be done in the query, so they are repeatable and difficult to break. Plus as a bonus, if you copy the query which it builds it can be pasted into PowerBI and you can create dashboards very quickly that are available anywhere.
Hi Julian
one tool that might help is ReplaceMagic (check: https://www.replacemagic.com/). ReplaceMagic supports changes in all Office document formats so this might help you here also.
In case of any questions you can always contact us.
Btw. we work natively with SharePoint (you can connect to it directly from ReplaceMagic). More infos: https://www.replacemagic.com/HowToUseSharePoint.aspx
BR,
Oliver
(I work for ReplaceMagic)
- reditguyJan 15, 2019Iron Contributor
Did anyone find a good way to handle this?
- JamesT100Sep 16, 2022Copper Contributor
Finally, which tools you choose for your migraion? LinkFixer Advanced, ReplaceMagic or others? Thanks.
- pcryan5220Sep 16, 2022Copper ContributorLinkfixer - worked like a champ.
- pcryan5Apr 26, 2021Copper ContributorSo there are 2 strategies to apply:
• SharePoint Online
o Migration needs to be done using the SharePoint Migration Tool (SharePoint Migration Tool for SharePoint and OneDrive - Migrate to SharePoint and OneDrive | Microsoft Docs). Can use an Azure Databox (Migrate your file share content to SharePoint using the Azure Data Box - Migrate to SharePoint and OneDrive | Microsoft Docs), but should only use if your data is in a remote location. Keyless AFD in <city name> will help with data transfer.
o Pro’s
Cost included in the O365 licenses depending on the plan you have. SharePoint Online Plan 2 is certainly the best option.
Document versioning and access control.
Easier sharing and collaboration.
Enterprise search.
Keyless Azure Front Door (AFD) here in <city name> for SharePoint Online & OneDrive for Business.
Can be synced to device using the OneDrive for Business sync tool,
o Con’s
No UNC pathname.
End user change management.
• Azure Files
o Pro’s
Easy migration with lift & shift of the file system.
Replicate your UNC pathnames providing limited end user impact.
Depending on the amount of data, you could transfer the data using Azure Databox.
o Con’s
More expensive. Cost’s to consider would be for a sync server, snapshot and of course the storage cost.
If deterministic path, you would need to use Azure VPN gateway or ExpressRoute. Additional cost. - Chris AngJan 16, 2019Copper Contributor
Microsoft uses our product internally (for the past 3 years in multiple areas internally), as well as NASA (3 research centers), Intel, HP (deployed globally), Ford (used by 12K site collection admins). We have over 40K users using our product, the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit.
Our product fixes links within MS Excel formulas, PDF, MS Word, web pages, web parts etc. and can be found from our website at https://www.qipoint.com
It also can handle digitally signed documents correctly so not to modify them and invalidate signatures, MS Office Online will keep link integrity when opened with MS Word/Excel online, etc..
- reditguyJan 16, 2019Iron Contributor
Thank you Chris....I've spoken to your team but it's incredibly expensive compared to others.