Can I link 2 seperate .xls files in excel?

Question

For example I have bob.xls and cindy.xls.......

I want to make a new xls driven from those 2 other .xls files. So lets say bob and cindy have an annual income. My new xls file will contain a total income for them both and display the total. I want this new total to update when I change either bob or cindys income. Is this possible?

Also if this is possible, what happens when the files get seperated? Can I move these 3 files without consequence?

Im sorry. I shouldnt asked the right question in the first place.

I have 2 .xls sheets. Each sheet has 7 tabs in it. I want to create a new sheet with only 3 tabs. The first tab in the new I want to display all the information from all the tabs in the first sheet. In the second tab I want to display all the information from the 7 tabs in the second sheet.

Ok I know how to get information from one sheet to another. But I dont know how to do that with multiple tabs. Also if I update anything in the original 7 tabs I want it to update in my newly created sheet. Is this possible?

Can I do this?

Answer 1

You are referring to an Excel Workbook. Workbooks contain tabs (worksheets). The only way I can think of to put seven pages of information on one page would be to use all columns and delineate each area with a border. This would work if you were not adding data. If you change data it should be alright. Then do the link thing. This way they will all be in the same workbook in one file so there will not be any separation when you move the one and only file.

You can also go to this Excel website and see if you can look up an answer to your question. http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?so=0&pg=1&dg=microsoft.public.excel.newusers&guid= You can also join by signing up as a user. There is a sign in link on the top right hand side of the web page. I've gotten lots of help from this site.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Yes. You can create formula's referencing other sheets and files as:

=[filename]Sheet1!A1

When the linked file is updated, you'll see the updates in the "total" file.

If you move the linked file away, your "total" file will get an error because it can't find the linked file.

Answer 3

Hit 'Ctrl K' when in excel, find the document. Hey presto. There we go.