Skip to Main Content
Microsoft Excel 365 Bible
book

Microsoft Excel 365 Bible

by Michael Alexander, Dick Kusleika
March 2022
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
1072 pages
28h 16m
English
Wiley
Content preview from Microsoft Excel 365 Bible

CHAPTER 25Linking and Consolidating Worksheets

In this chapter, we discuss two procedures for using data from other workbooks or worksheets: linking and consolidating. Linking is the process of using references to cells in external workbooks to get data into your worksheet. Consolidating involves combining or summarizing information from two or more worksheets (which can be in multiple workbooks).

Linking Workbooks

Excel allows you to create formulas that contain references to other workbook files. The workbook that contains the external reference formulas is the dependent workbook because it contains formulas that depend on another workbook. The workbook that contains the information used in the external reference formula is the source workbook because that's where the information is.

When you consider linking workbooks, you may ask yourself the following question: If a workbook needs to access data that's in another workbook, why not just enter the data into the workbook that needs it? In some cases, you can. But the real value of linking becomes apparent when the source workbook is being continually updated by another person or group. Creating a link in the dependent workbook means you always have access to the most recent information in the source workbook. The dependent workbook is updated whenever the source changes.

Linking workbooks also can be helpful if you need to ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Excel 2019 Bible

Excel 2019 Bible

Michael Alexander, Richard Kusleika, John Walkenbach

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781119835103Purchase Link