Break links to other workbooks
Extra. Off by default.
Replaces formulas that read other workbooks with their values.
Those cells stop updating.
Why it takes space
When a formula reads another workbook, Excel keeps a link to that file and a copy of every value it reads from it, so it can show them while that file is closed. In a workbook that reads a lot from others, those copies can be most of the file.
What ShrinkExcel does
ShrinkExcel breaks every link the way Excel's own Break Link does. Each cell formula that reads another workbook, directly or through a defined name, becomes the value it shows. Formulas on this workbook's cells stay, including ones that read a cell that just became a value.
In a defined name, each reference to another workbook becomes #REF!. A chart series that plots another workbook becomes fixed values, taken from its saved copy. Last, it removes the links and their copies of values.
It never removes the copies alone. In a check in Excel for Mac on 2026-09-24, linked formulas left without their copy recalculated to zero, with no error and no warning.
It leaves the whole workbook alone when a link sits somewhere it cannot handle the way Excel does: a DDE or OLE link, a formula with no saved value, a dynamic array formula that reads another workbook, a reference in data validation, conditional formatting or a drawing, or a workbook that calculates iteratively. It never touches a workbook with macros.
When nothing reads the links, Unused links removes them instead, and this reduction does nothing.
What you will notice
Formulas that read other workbooks stop updating. Each keeps the value it showed when the file was last saved, and its formula is gone.
A defined name that pointed at another workbook reads #REF! afterwards. A data validation list built on such a name stops working, as it does after Excel's Break Link.
Excel stops asking whether to update links when the file opens. Your original keeps its links, because ShrinkExcel writes a new file. Keep it if you may need the links again.
We compared our result with Excel's own Break Link in Excel for Mac on 2026-09-24, on a test workbook and on real linked workbooks. Every cell, defined name and chart series matched, apart from NOW() and CELL("filename"), which give the time and the file's own name.
Doing it in Excel
In Excel, open Data > Edit Links, select the links and choose Break Link. Newer versions of Excel show a Workbook Links pane instead, which offers the same command. Excel cannot undo it, so save a copy first.
To use it, switch it on under Advanced settings on the front page before you drop a workbook.