How do I easily change hardcoded links to a file in Excel?
- by phan
I have a project where I maintain a list of all my students and their information in an Excel file labeled "BigList.xlsx". Then, I have about 40-50 other separate ancillary excel files that link to BigList by using vLookup.
For example, in cell A1 of an ancillary file you might see a formula that looks like this: =Vlookup(B3, 'c:\documents and settings\user\desktop[BigList.xlsx]Sheet1'!$a$1:$b$10000,2,false).
The vlookup link above references BigList.xlsx. However, I just realized that I need to change that file name to something else, like MasterDatabase.xlsm (notice the different extension). Is there an easy way to do this without having to manually go through all 40-50 files and doing a find & replace?
I think the basic idea is to change a hardcoded link into a dynamic one where I can change the filename of BigList.xlsx anytime, and not have to go back through all 40-50 files to update their links.