Microsoft KB Archive/81025

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Excel: Can't Evaluate Link to Closed Document in Formula Bar

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 3.x, 4.x, 5.0, 5.0c
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 7.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.0a

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SUMMARY
A portion of an Excel formula can be evaluated in the formula bar by highlighting it and pressing COMMAND+= (equals sign) (F9 in Excel for Windows). Links to closed documents will return a #REF! error when evaluated in this way.

Microsoft Excel versions 3.0 and 4.0 will evaluate both complex and simple references to closed documents in cells but not in the formula bar. To determine the value of a link to a closed document, type the external reference by itself into a cell on the spreadsheet.

For a definition of simple and complex links in Excel, query on the following words:

  definition and simple and complex and links