Co-Editing Excel Spreadsheets with Linked Cells, Macros and other Controls, or Links to specific Worksheets

When working with Excel spreadsheets, the following features are not available. This is a limitation from Microsoft Office.

• Linked cells between spreadsheets.
• Certain features, such as macros and buttons.
• Creating links to specific worksheets in a spreadsheet

However, by putting an Excel spreadsheet into Co-Edit gives you access to these.

This article contains the following sections:

• Using Co-Edit for Excel Spreadsheets with Linked Cells
• Using Co-Edit for Excel Spreadsheets with Macros and other Controls
• Using Co-Edit to Copy Links to Specific Worksheets in a Spreadsheet
• Changing the startup settings of the workbook to ignore the link

Using Co-Edit for Excel Spreadsheets with Linked Cells

If you are using spreadsheets with linked cells between spreadsheets, to refresh the calculations, the spreadsheets have to be opened in the desktop app. This is a limitation from Microsoft Office.

1. Put all the referenced spreadsheets in Co-Edit (and leave them in Co-Edit mode).
2. Open each of the linked spreadsheets in FYI with the Co-Edit button to open them in Excel Online.
3. Then for each of the spreadsheets, click Open in Desktop App at the top of the Excel Online screen to open the spreadsheet in Excel desktop.
   
   
   
   Within Excel desktop, you can add cross-linked cells, or any of the worksheets within the spreadsheets, and refresh any calculations.

Note: Leave the linked spreadsheets in Co-Edit mode until no further work is needed on them. Taking the spreadsheets out of Co-Edit will break the links. If you take the spreadsheet out of Co-Edit, you will get a message "Sorry, we couldn't find 'https"//...".

Using Co-Edit for Excel Spreadsheets with Macros and other Controls

Some spreadsheets include features, such as macros and buttons, that are not supported by Office Online. These spreadsheets must be Co-edited in the desktop version of Excel.

1. Click Co-Edit to open the spreadsheet in Excel Online.
   
   The following message displays at the top of the spreadsheet:
   "Unsupported Features There are some features in your workbook that we can't show in the browser".
   
   
   
   
2. Click Open in Desktop App at the top of the Excel Online screen to access the full functionality.
   
   

Using Co-Edit to Copy Links to Specific Worksheets in a Spreadsheet

You can use Co-Edit if you want to create links to specific worksheets in a spreadsheet. For example if you want to copy the link to somewhere external (or to another spreadsheet) so it is opened at a specific worksheet.

1. Put the source spreadsheet in Co-Edit and leave it in Co-Edit mode.
2. Open the source spreadsheet in FYI with the Co-Edit button to open it in Excel Online.
3. Click Open in Desktop App at the top of the Excel Online screen to open the spreadsheet in Excel desktop.
   
   
4. In an empty cell, use the Insert Link Excel function to insert a link to the required worksheet:
   
   a) From the Insert option in the ribbon menu, select Link - Insert Link).
   b) Select Existing File or Web Page.
   c) Select the source spreadsheet. The current spreadsheet should be displayed by default. This selects it from your OneDrive FYI - Co-Edits folder
   d) Click Bookmark.
   e) Select the required worksheet. It defaults to the first cell in the worksheet (R1C1 or A1)
   f) Click OK.
   
   
5. A link is inserted, for example:
   https://fyidocs-my.sharepoint.com/personal/liz_hurst_thegrowth.partners/FYI%20-%20Co-Edits/Correspondence/Frank%20Marshall/Spreashsheet%20(FYI-469338).xlsx#'WorksheetName'!R1C1

You can copy (or cut) and paste this link to an external location.

If you want to paste the link to a spreadsheet in FYI, that spreadsheet also needs to be in Co-Edit and opened in the desktop app.

Changing the startup settings of the workbook to ignore the link

As an alternative, if the link is required, but the referenced value does not need to be automatically updated, you can change the startup settings of the workbook to ignore the link.

1. In the Excel workbook that holds the link, click on the Data Tab in the Excel ribbon.
2. Click Edit Links.
3. Click the Startup Prompt button.
4. Click "Don't display the alert and don't update automatic links" to select this.
5. Click OK to save the changes.