How to Link Sheets in Excel

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: August 25, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to link data between multiple worksheets in a Microsoft Excel workbook. Linking will dynamically pull data from a sheet into another, and update the data in your destination sheet whenever you change the contents of a cell in your source sheet.

Steps

1
Open a Microsoft Excel workbook. The Excel icon looks like a green-and-white "X" icon.
2
Click your destination sheet from the sheet tabs. You will see a list of all your worksheets at the bottom of Excel. Click on the sheet you want to link to another worksheet.

Advertisement
3
Click an empty cell in your destination sheet. This will be your destination cell. When you link it to another sheet, the data in this cell will be automatically synchronized and updated whenever the data in your source cell changes.
4
Type = in the cell. It will start a formula in your destination cell.
5
Click your source sheet from the sheet tabs. Find the sheet where you want to pull data from, and click on the tab to open the worksheet.
6
Check the formula bar. The formula bar shows the value of your destination cell at the top of your workbook. When you switch to your source sheet, it should show the name of your current worksheet, following an equals sign, and followed by an exclamation mark.
- Alternatively, you can manually write this formula in the formula bar. It should look like =<SheetName>!, where "<SheetName>" is replaced with the name of your source sheet.
7
Click a cell in your source sheet. This will be your source cell. It could be an empty cell, or a cell with some data in it. When you link sheets, your destination cell will be automatically updated with the data in your source cell.
- For example, if you're pulling data from cell D12 in Sheet1, the formula should look like =Sheet1!D12.
8
Click ↵ Enter on your keyboard. This will finalize the formula, and switch back to your destination sheet. Your destination cell is now linked to your source cell, and dynamically pulls data from it. Whenever you edit the data in your source cell, your destination cell will also be updated.
9
Click your destination cell. This will highlight the cell.
10
Click and drag the square icon in the lower-right corner of your destination cell. This will expand the range of linked cells between your source and destination sheets. Expanding your initial destination cell will link the adjacent cells from your source sheet.
- You can drag and expand the range of linked cells in any direction. This could include the entire worksheet, or only parts of it.