Cell Links: Consolidate or Maintain Consistency of Data

Cell linking is useful when you want to consolidate information from multiple sheets. Use cell linking to create a roll-up sheet, to keep track of cross-project date dependencies, or to ensure that values stay current across a collection of sheets.

You can only link cells. It's not possible to link entire sheets, columns, or rows. Only cells that contain data, or that previously contained data, can be linked to a destination sheet. Cells can't contain both a hyperlink and a cell link.

Typically, when you link a cell, you'll see an indicator on the right edge of the cell. Smartsheet displays 2,000 of these indicators for outbound links, max. You can use more than 2,000 links, but you will only see 2,000 indicators. A missing indicator does not mean your link is inactive. To check your links, verify the data at the destination.

Link Type Overview: Inbound and Outbound

There are two types of cell links:

• Aninbound linkin a cell gets its value from a cell in another sheet.
  
  A cell that contains an inbound link is thedestination cellfor that link, and the sheet containing the destination cell is thedestination sheet.A destination cell can have only one inbound link. Destination cells are designated by a light blue arrow on the right side of the cell.
  
• When a cell contains anoutbound link,the value in that cell updates a cell in another sheet.
  
  A cell that contains an outbound link is thesource cellfor that link, and the sheet containing the source cell is thesource sheet.A source cell can be linked to multiple destination cells. Source cells are designated by a grey arrow in the bottom-right corner of the cell.

来see the sheet name for an inbound or outbound link, select the linked cell:

参观the sheet that a value is linked in from our out to, select the linked cell, hover the mouse over the text that appears, and click the link to the sheet:

来delete an inbound or outbound link, hover the mouse over the information that appears and click thedeletelink.

Create an Inbound Cell Link

来create a cell link, you must have at least Viewer permission to the source sheet and Editor permission to the destination sheet.

1. Open the destination sheet.
2. Click on a cell and then clickCell Linkingin the toolbar to display the cell linking form.
   
   
3. Select the sheet that contains the source cell in theSelect a Sheetsection on the left side of the form.
   TIP: Use the search bar if you need to search for the sheet.
   
4. On the right side of the form, select the cell you want to reference and then clickCreate Link.
   A link from the referenced cell is created, and a blue arrow appears on the right side of the destination cell.
   

Tips for Effectively Working with Cell Links

When you create an inbound link, an outbound link is created automatically in the source sheet.

You can select multiple cells to create a link to each one:

• The linked cells in the destination sheet will appear in the same order as they do in the source sheet.
• Taking this action will overwrite any data currently contained in the destination cells.

You can create links of up to 500 cells from the same source sheet at a time and can have a total of 20,000 inbound links in a destination sheet.

来prevent infinite approval loops, cells which containcross-sheet formulasorcell linkswill not trigger an automation which automatically changes the sheet (Move Row, Copy Row, Lock Row, Unlock Row, Approval Request). To work around this, consider usingtime-based automationorrecurrenceworkflows.

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Edit or Remove Links

The sheet owner and collaborators with Editor or Admin access can edit or remove cell links.

Inbound Links

You can edit an inbound link by double-clicking it and selecting new source cells from the Cell Linking form.

来remove an inbound link from a cell or group of cells:

1. Click a cell (or click-and-drag to highlight a group of cells) that contains an inbound link.
2. Right-click and selectRemove Link.
   
   Alternately, you can remove a links one at a time by selecting each cell and then clicking the delete link that appears (you'll need to mouse over the "Linked in to" message to see the delete link). Or, press Backspace after clicking on a cell (or a group of cells) with an inbound link to remove the links.

Outbound Links

Outbound links must be removed one at a time. To remove an outbound link:

1. From the sheet that contains the outbound link, select the source cell.
2. Mouse over the linked cell to see the delete link.
   
   
3. Click thedeletelink.

NOTE: Deleting sheet rows that include linked cells will impact the cell links. Deleting a row that includes a source cell will create a broken cell link in the destination sheet. Deleting a row with a linked destination cell will remove the link from the source sheet.

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Use the Paste Special Feature to Create Links (Start from the Source Sheet)

Use选择性粘贴if you are starting in the source sheet or if you want to create links to the same source cell(s) in multiple destination sheets.

来create a link using the Paste Special feature:

1. Open the source sheet and copy a cell or range of cells (using right-click or the keyboard shortcuts).
2. Open the destination sheet, click on the cell where you want to create the links, then right-click (Mac users can use [Ctrl] + click) and select选择性粘贴to display the选择性粘贴form
3. Select theLink to copied cellsoption, and then clickOK. Links to the copied cells are created starting with the selected cell.
   
   NOTE:You can’t create links to cells in empty rows or to cells that were deleted after you copied them.
   
4. If necessary, repeat steps 2-3 to create more links to the copied cells in other sheets.

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Cell Types that Don’t Allow Links

Cell links can't be created in the Attachments or Discussions columns.

If you havedependencies enabled on a Project/Gantt sheet, you can’t create inbound links in the following types of cells on that sheet:

• Cell with column formula
• Finish dates
• Predecessors
• Parent rollups (start date, finish date, duration, % complete)
• Start dates with a dependency

However, you can create links in the duration and start date columns (if no predecessor exists for the row). The finish date will be calculated automatically, and you can add predecessors after creating the link.

Cells that have inbound links also can’t be edited in the following contexts:

• From a published sheet
• From an update request
• From the Smartsheet mobile app
• 从内容的平板电脑应用程序
• From a Report
• From the Edit form