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If you are reading this article you have probably been frustrated with a persistent error message that Excel keeps showing you stating:
“Excel found a problem with one or more formula references in this worksheet. Check that the cell references, range names, defined names, and links to other workbooks in your formulas are all correct.” — Love, Microsoft Excel
Well, thank you Excel for giving us a blanket, catch-all statement that is essentially telling us, “I”ve found an issue with your spreadsheet, I”m not going to tell you where it is or even what type of object is causing this…but enjoy scouring the entire file! Oh, and I almost forgot, I”m going to keep reminding you about this error until it”s fixed.”
So after clicking OK about ten times, you”ve probably more than a little time trying to figure out what is causing this message to keep popping up. Well, I have been in your shoes feeling the exact frustration and hopefully I can guide you through the different parts of your spreadsheet that may be housing this invalid formula reference. Best of luck!
Isolate The Specific Spreadsheet Tab
Sometimes if you have a enormous file with lots of tabs, you may want to start by isolating the specific tab(s) that are causing this error message. You can do this by copying over your tabs one-by-one and determining which tab in your new workbook triggers the error message. Make sure you save after each tab is copied over in case the Saving event is what triggers the error message.
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Check External Links
Navigate to your Data Tab >> Queries & Connections >> Edit Links and see if any of your links contain errors in them. If you find any, simply remove (or break) those particular links. This may or may not solve the issue, but at the very least you are getting rid of some garbage that could causing corruption to your file down the road.
Check The Name Manager
It is a good idea to scroll through the Name Manager (dialog box that allows you to manage all your named ranges) and see if any of the formulas associated with your Named Ranges include errors (ie #N/A, #REF, #VALUE!, #NAME?, #DIV/0). Go ahead and delete all of the Named Ranges with errors and see if that action fixes your issue. There is even an option to filter on Named Ranges with errors as shown below that can make this process even faster.
Check Your Charts
I”m not going to lie, Chart object errors causing this message are the most painful to track down, especially if you have a large number of charts on a given tab. Typically, if the error is within a chart it will pop up after you have selected the chart or when you are entering the Select Data Source dialog box.
Below is a list of locations to check for errors.
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Check for errors in the chart”s source data (aka the cells feeding your chart)Check for errors in each chart series formula (within Select Data Source dialog)Check for errors in the horizontal axis formula (within Select Data Source dialog)Check for errors in the chart”s Secondary Axis (if applicable)Check for errors in any linked Data Labels, Axis Labels, or the Chart Title
Finally, if all else fails try Copy/Pastingthe chart and see if the new copy gives you the same error message. If not, simply delete the old chart and use the copy going forward.
Check Your Pivot Tables
There could be an error residing in your Pivot Table”s Data Source formula. Select your Pivot Table and navigate to PivotTable Tools >> Analyze >> Change Data Source >> Change Data Source… and see if your formula has any errors in it.
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Any Other Solutions I Missed?
I believe I have covered all the problem areas I have seen in my years of working with Excel, but if you have come across other locations within your spreadsheet file that have caused this error message to show, please let us all know about it in the comments section below.
I wish you the best of luck and I hope this article gets you heading in the right direction!