Manage data links

This page explains how to manage the data links between Excel and PowerPoint, such as adjusting linked Excel ranges, updating individual linked elements with new data, and managing updates for all the linked elements in your presentation with the Data Links dialog.

To learn more about creating data links between Excel and PowerPoint, see Create elements from Excel.

Manage linked Excel ranges

In Excel, you can make changes to linked ranges in a number of ways that will affect linked elements in PowerPoint. The most common change to a linked range is changing the data values in the linked cells then updating the linked elements with the new data. The following sections explain the other adjustments you can make to linked ranges that will affect linked elements:

• Adjust linked cell ranges
• Transpose and edit the data layout of linked ranges

You don't need to have PowerPoint open to adjust linked Excel ranges. To see the changes in PowerPoint, you need to open a presentation that contains links to the Excel range and update the linked elements (see Manage the data in linked elements).

You can identify linked ranges by the color coded frames that appear around them. The different frame colors indicate the status of linked ranges as follows:

• Green frame: There are open presentations that contain links to the Excel range.
• Blue frame: The frame is selected.
• Red frame: There aren't any open presentations that contain links to the Excel range.

When there are multiple workbooks or worksheets open that contain the same linked data range, small tabs appear under each copy of the linked range that show the other copies. The copies that have an active link to an open PowerPoint presentation appear in green tabs and the copies that don't have active data links appear in red tabs.

When you hover over a tab, a tooltip appears that shows the worksheet and workbook that contains that copy of the linked range. To open a worksheet that contains a specific copy, select the tab that contains that copy. Selecting the tabs in Excel doesn't replace the active data source of linked elements in PowerPoint. To replace the data source of linked elements, use the Data Links dialog (see Replace the data source of linked elements).

Adjust linked cell ranges

After creating linked Excel ranges, you can adjust the linked range by using different cells in the worksheet or by adding and removing cells. This is useful when you need to add another series to a linked chart or remove a row from a linked table.

To adjust a linked range, select the frame around the linked range, then choose from the following options:

• To use different cells in the worksheet as the linked range, drag and reposition the frame over the cells that you want in the linked range.
• To add more cells to the linked range, resize the frame by selecting and dragging a corner handle until the cells that you want are inside the frame.
• To remove cells from the linked range, resize the frame by selecting and dragging a corner handle until the cells that you want to remove are outside the frame.

Transpose and edit the data layout of linked ranges

Linked elements in PowerPoint use a default data layout to display Excel data. For example, in an Excel range that is linked to a column chart, rows represent series and columns represent categories by default (see Create charts from Excel).

You can change how think-cell interprets and displays Excel data in linked elements without editing the cells or changing the values in the linked Excel range. To do so, transpose the linked ranges or edit their data layout.

To transpose a linked data range, right-click the frame around the linked range, then select Transpose Link . To learn more about transposing data ranges, see Transpose the datasheet.

To edit the data layout of a linked data range, right-click the frame around the linked range, then select Edit Data Layout . To learn more about editing data layout, see Edit datasheet layout.

Manage the data in linked elements

In PowerPoint, you can update linked elements with new data from Excel, take back the latest data updates in linked elements, or let think-cell update linked elements automatically when there is new data. The following sections explain how to manage the data in linked elements individually:

• Manually update linked elements
• Revert updates to linked elements
• Automatically update linked elements

To update a linked element, think-cell must establish a data link to the Excel workbook that contains the linked range. To establish the data link, think-cell saves and uses the following data about the Excel workbook:

• The name and file path of the Excel workbook
• The name of the worksheet that contains the linked data range

When you select a linked element on a slide, the data about its linked workbook appears on top of the element.

To learn how to manage linked elements when think-cell hasn't established a link to their Excel data ranges, see the following sections:

• Reestablish data links.
• Update linked elements without Excel data sources.
• Replace the data source of linked elements.

Manually update linked elements

When a linked element has new data in its linked Excel range, the selection frame around the element turns green, and the Update button appears above the element.

To update the element with the new data, select Update . Alternatively, select the element to open the mini toolbar, then select Update Once .

Revert updates to linked elements

When you update linked elements, think-cell stores the elements' data before their latest update until you close the presentation. To take back the last data update to a linked element, select the element to open the mini toolbar, then select Revert .

You can use the Update Once and Revert buttons to switch between the most recent data update and the previous data in linked elements, even after closing the linked Excel workbook.

Automatically update linked elements

You can allow think-cell to automatically update linked elements whenever their linked Excel data changes. To do so, select the element to open the mini toolbar, then select Update Automatically .

As long as think-cell has established a link between the linked element and its linked Excel range, any changes in the linked Excel range will automatically appear in the linked element Reestablish data links.

To stop automatic updates for a linked element, select the element to open the mini toolbar, then select Disable Automatic Update .

Reestablish data links

When think-cell hasn't established a data link between linked elements and their Excel ranges, an orange question mark ( ) appears in the following locations to indicate the missing data link:

• When you select a linked element, the question mark appears above the element.
• On the element's mini toolbar, the question mark appears on the Reverted button.
  • If you selected automatic updates for the element, the orange question mark appears on the Automatic Update Enabled button instead.
• In the Data Links dialog, the question mark appears next to the linked element's data source (see Manage linked data with the Data Links dialog).

To reestablish a data link in your presentation, open the linked Excel range. To open the linked Excel range of a linked element, select the element, then select Open Datasheet . Alternatively, double-click the element. If think-cell reestablishes the link to the Excel range, the orange question marks disappear.

You can also reestablish a data link and update a linked element without opening its linked Excel range. To do so, select the element to open the mini toolbar, then select Update Once or Update Automatically . In the background, think-cell tries to reestablish the link and update the element with new data in the linked range.

When think-cell can't reestablish a data link to Excel, a red exclamation mark ( ) replaces the orange question mark above the linked elements and the update buttons. This usually means that the name or location of the linked workbook or worksheet has changed. You can reestablish the link manually by changing the data source of the linked elements (see Replace the data source of linked elements).

Update linked elements without Excel data sources

When think-cell can't reestablish a data link to Excel, you can still update the data in linked elements using their element datasheets (see Element datasheets). To do so, select the element, then select Open Datasheet . Alternatively, double-click the element. The element datasheet opens, containing the most recently used data from the linked Excel range.

If you later establish a data link to an Excel range, any changes in the element datasheet will remain until you update the element with the linked Excel data. To ensure that your changes in the element datasheet aren't overwritten, think-cell disables automatic updates for linked elements when you open and edit their element datasheets.

Manage linked data with the Data Links dialog

When you have many linked elements in your presentation, managing their data individually can be impractical. The Data Links dialog gives you an overview of all the data links in your presentation and allows you to manage multiple linked elements simultaneously.

To open the Data Links dialog, on the PowerPoint ribbon, go to Insert > think-cell > Tools and select Data Links . Alternatively, select a linked element to open the mini toolbar, then select Open Data Links Dialog .

The left side of the dialog lists the linked elements in the presentation as follows:

• Slides that contain linked elements appear as slide thumbnails.
• In each slide thumbnail, the linked elements appear as gray placeholders.
• Elements that have a pending update available appear with the green update icon on them (see Manually update linked elements).
• Elements with a data link that think-cell hasn't established appear with the orange question mark on them (see Reestablish data links).
• Elements with a data link that think-cell can't establish appear with the red exclamation mark on them (see Update linked elements without Excel data sources).

The right side of the dialog lists the linked data sources as follows:

• Each data source appears next to the first slide that contains an element linked to it.
• Excel data sources on the list are worksheets that contain linked ranges.
• If there are alternate data sources for linked elements, they appear under the data sources that the elements are currently linked to (see Replace the data source of linked elements).
• Tableau data sources appear as URLs (see Tableau data links).

When you hover over an element placeholder in a slide thumbnail, the element's linked data source highlights on the list. A tooltip displays the name of the worksheet, the file path of the workbook, the element's current update state, and the last time the element received new data from Excel.

If you select the element placeholder, the linked data source in the dialog and the actual element on the slide are also selected. Above the data source, a floating toolbar appears with the data update buttons. You can update linked elements in the Data Links dialog with the update buttons the same way that you update them individually on the slide (see Manage the data in linked elements). You can also select multiple linked elements and manage updates for them simultaneously (see Select and manage multiple linked elements).

To open the linked Excel range of an element, on the list of slide thumbnails, double-click the element's placeholder. If the linked Excel workbook is unavailable, the element datasheet opens instead (see Update linked elements without Excel data sources).

To highlight the linked elements in the presentation, select Highlight on Slide. A green highlight appears on all the linked elements in your presentation. If you want an element to stay highlighted when you close and reopen the presentation, select the element placeholder, then on the floating toolbar, select Always Highlight on Slide, and save the presentation.

Select and manage multiple linked elements

You can select multiple linked elements in the Data Links dialog, then manage the selected elements simultaneously using the data update buttons (see Manage the data in linked elements).

To select multiple linked elements, do one of the following:

• Select a data source in the right column to select all elements linked to that source.
• Select a slide thumbnail to select all linked elements on that slide.
• Select and hold Ctrl and select multiple elements, slide thumbnails, or data sources.
• Select and hold Shift and select a range of slide thumbnails or data sources.
• Select Ctrl+A or Select All to select all linked elements in the presentation.

After selecting multiple linked elements, you can filter your selection to contain specific linked elements, such as removing elements that are already updated from your selection. To filter your selection, use the following Filter Selection checkboxes:

• : Elements that don't contain the most recent linked Excel data and elements that don't have their data source open.
• : Updated elements.
• : Elements that have automatic updates enabled.
• : Elements that are linked to Tableau (see Tableau data links).

When you have selected the linked elements that you want, you can use the data update buttons on the floating toolbar to manage the data in the elements in your selection.

Replace the data source of linked elements

Sometimes you need to make changes to an Excel workbook that has data links to elements in PowerPoint. If you rename or move a worksheet or workbook that contains a linked range, think-cell doesn't automatically switch to the changed data source to update the data links. Instead, the changed data source becomes an alternate source for the linked elements.

In the Data Links dialog, alternate sources appear under the most recently used data source for each element. When think-cell recognizes a new alternate source for the first time, on the think-cell ribbon, an orange dot appears on the Data Links button and in the Data Links dialog, a blinking green dot appears next to the alternate source.

To replace the data source of a linked element with an alternate source, in the dialog, select the element, then hover over the alternate source and select Replace Data Source .

Remove data links

You can remove data links between elements and Excel ranges from PowerPoint or Excel. Removing a data link only stops the connection between PowerPoint and Excel for the particular element or Excel range. So, the cells in Excel don't change and linked elements stay in the presentation with their latest data.

When you remove a data link from a linked element in PowerPoint, the linked Excel range retains its data link and any other elements linked to that range keep their data links. Similarly, when you remove a data link from a linked Excel range, the elements that link to that range keep their data links but can't update their data using that particular range. You can change their data source and keep using them as linked elements (see Replace the data source of linked elements).

To remove a data link from a linked element in PowerPoint, right-click the element to open the context menu, then select Break Excel Link . You can also select multiple linked elements on a slide and remove their data links in the same way (see Select multiple objects).

You can remove multiple data links in a presentation simultaneously with the Data Links dialog (see Manage linked data with the Data Links dialog). To do so, in the dialog, select the data sources that you want to remove, then select Del (see Select and manage multiple linked elements).

To remove a data link from a linked range in Excel, right-click the frame around the linked range to open the context menu, then select Delete .

In Excel, you can delete the data links from all linked ranges that don't currently have an open PowerPoint file that contain links to them. To do so, on the Excel ribbon, go to Insert > think-cell > Tools and select Delete Disconnected Links . Alternatively, right-click a red frame around a linked range to open the context menu, then select Delete Disconnected Data Links .

Excel data links FAQ

What happens when I copy linked elements?

When you copy a linked element, both the original and the copy link to the same Excel data range and receive data updates the same way (see Manage the data in linked elements).

What happens when I delete linked elements?

When you delete a linked element, you also remove the data link to Excel along with it. If there are no other elements in an open presentation linking to the same Excel data range, the frame around the linked Excel range turns red. The linked data range is not affected in any other way. To learn more, see Remove data links.

How do I get rid of the red frames in my Excel worksheets?

A red frame around a linked range indicates that there no open presentations with links to that range. It doesn't necessarily mean that there are no elements linking to that data range.

You can remove a frame around a linked range by removing the data link. Removing the data link in an Excel range doesn't affect the data in the range. To learn more, see Remove data links.

Why are my linked elements indicating a pending update even though the Excel data didn't change?

Even small changes in Excel data, such as changes to decimal separators or currency symbols, register as new data for a linked element.

If you see pending updates for a linked element when you are sure that there is no new data in the linked Excel range, check the element's datasheet for any data changes. To learn more about changing data in linked elements with the element datasheets, see Update linked elements without Excel data sources.

Why is Excel slow when I have lots of linked data ranges?

You can improve Excel performance by disabling automatic error checking. To do so, on the Excel ribbon, go to File > Excel Options. In the Excel Options dialog, select the Formulas tab, then in the Error Checking section, deselect Enable background error checking .

I have a lot of Excel files to visualize with think-cell. Can I run think-cell in batch mode?

Yes, think-cell offers functions to update charts with data from Excel ranges programmatically and to create entire presentations from templates. To learn more, see Automation with Excel data.

What are the advantages of data links over Microsoft OLE?

You may be familiar with OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) in Microsoft Office. OLE is similar to think-cell’s data links, allowing the creation of charts in PowerPoint that you can update with data from Excel. However, think-cell’s linking technique has several advantages over OLE:

• The charts are always the same, whether they are linked or not. Even linked charts are native PowerPoint objects, not Excel charts pasted into PowerPoint. In particular, the data on which the chart is based is also stored in the presentation and can be viewed and edited even if the file linked to is unavailable.
• Charts can be linked to Excel at any time, not only when they are created.
• Linked charts remain editable, even when the linked data source is not available.