Find external link

[PeterL]

Hi all. I’ve just started moving from Excel to Calc. When I open one of my workbooks, Calc displays the message “Security Warning Automatic update of external links has been disabled”. Good! But how do I find which cell has the link? Edit> Links to External Files… gives me the linked document, but not which cell is linking to the external files. (The linked document is not nefarious; it’s one of mine). A text search through Values and Formulas (All Sheets) for even part of the name doesn’t find anything. I could just Break Link, but there is a cell linking that should be a fixed value, not a link. How do I find it? Thanks for your help.

Version: 25.8.2.2 (X86_64)
Build ID: d401f2107ccab8f924a8e2df40f573aab7605b6f
CPU threads: 12; OS: Windows 10 X86_64 (build 19045); UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: en-AU (en_AU); UI: en-GB
Calc: CL threaded

[mariosv]

Don’t need to be with a formula.
It could be created with Menu>Sheets>

with the link option in some of them.
Or can be with a formula with INDIRECT function creating the URL to the external file.

[PeterL]

Ah, I hadn’t seen that.
OK, I’ve explored that option. Yes, I can make a link using Menu>Sheets>External Links… And then that link appears in Edit>Links to External Files…
But it doesn’t tell me which cell is doing that linking. The receiving cell itself just shows the answer, with no indication that the value is coming from an external source.
I’ve also searched for an INDIRECT formula; there are none of those. And a search for the filename/URL should also have turned up, which it didn’t.
So I still can’t find where a link is coming from.

[cwolan]

FTR:
tdf#146723
(“Enhacement Request: Edit Links to External Files (show the source of, at least, the first link request)”)

[sokol92]

@PeterL

A text search through Values and Formulas (All Sheets) for even part of the name doesn’t find anything.

Please upload such a file.
Before uploading, please ensure the file does not contain confidential data. Also, check that the file is not in Track Changes mode (Menu / Edit / Track Changes, Record is checked).

[PeterL]

problem external link20.ods (34.2 KB)

I’ve deleted all the data sheets. I’ve deleted all the objects off the sheet (I think!). I’ve deleted the Macros, but there’s still a mass of objects in VBAProject>Document Objects. I don’t know if they are relevant.
As there is not data cells, it can’t be a cross-book formula. And it can’t be an INDIRECT formula.
Thanks for your help solving this mystery!

[PeterL]

Ah I hadn’t seen that. Great! I’m not sure if will help in my case, as I/we haven’t found where the link is coming from, and it (doesn’t appear to be) a cell link or an INDIRECT link. I’ll update this comment when the actual cause of the link is found.

[cwolan]

Take a look at the information in the Manage Names dialog.
( Sheet ⟶ Named Ranges and Expressions ⟶ Manage)
⠀

[PeterL]

Ah! That’s it!
I’d seen Sheet> External Links… but had drilled down to Sheet> Names Ranges and Expressions> Manage.
Thank you!
(I still think it would be useful if the warning banner gave clearer direction to where the external link is. I’ll add that to the existing Enhancement Request.)