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rbis

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#324786 26-May-2026 10:44
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I have a fairly large and complicated Excel workbook that I have been developing and modifying over the years.  For quite a long time it often showed messages about random chart settings when the cursor was hovering over a blank area.  It recently started to fail to populate a chart with cell refences to another worksheet within the workbook.  I took this as a bad sign and decided to remake the entire workbook by copying and pasting each worksheet from the original workbook into the new workbook.  i then broke all the links to the old workbook in the new workbook and CTRL-H'd the old workbook name with a bland.

 

Now all the source data for the charts look good, but don't work - no data appears in the charts.  To get the data in I now have to edit each Y value reference manually.

 

Because there are a lot of cell references in the formulae in the workbook, I'd really like to find a way to re-activate all the cell references automatically.  I can't find a way io do this.  I would be grateful for any help.

 

 

 

Thank you

 

 


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SaltyNZ
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  #3495466 26-May-2026 10:48
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Expected a topic about an ex-Soviet plot: disappointed.





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toejam316
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  #3495467 26-May-2026 10:59
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I think you've stumbled upon one of those issues that make consultants well paid and bald. It may be worth investigating this functionality in a proper DB toolset. I wish you luck!





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ANglEAUT
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  #3495482 26-May-2026 12:17
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I think a copy of the formula or screenshot of the chart might help.

 

I struggle to understand "To get the data in I now have to edit each Y value reference manually." in connection with your chart. Do you have many charts that require adjusting the Y-axis? Do you want values displayed over every data point in the Y-axis? Something else?





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eracode
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  #3495497 26-May-2026 13:16
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I love working with spreadsheets but my needs are simple and I use them at a fairly superficial level. Your issue is beyond my pay-grade.

 

I’m aware that using AI to generate responses for use on GZ is frowned upon - so I won’t do that.

 

I copied your entire OP and pasted it into Google Gemini. Got a comprehensive reply - it gave five different things you could try to get a fix. My understanding is that AI can be really good at this sort of thing - it might be worth you following up that way.

 

OTOH you may well get an excellent reply here from someone who can actually help you.





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xpd

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  #3495499 26-May-2026 13:34
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One of my workmates is an absolute whiz at Excel...if I get a chance I'll show him your post and see what he thinks.

 

 





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ANglEAUT
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#3495653 26-May-2026 20:41
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eracode: ... I’m aware that using AI to generate responses for use on GZ is frowned upon - so I won’t do that. ...

 

 

xpd: One of my workmates is an absolute whiz at Excel...if I get a chance I'll show him your post and see what he thinks.

 

🤖 My work mate says: "Bah, humbug!" 🤖





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Earbanean
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  #3495714 27-May-2026 10:14
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I don't fully understand what you're trying to do, but it maybe sounds like you need a good CTRL-Alt-F9 of the workbook.  Aka the 'kick in the guts' recalc.


ANglEAUT
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  #3495721 27-May-2026 10:36
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toejam316: I think you've stumbled upon one of those issues that make consultants well paid and bald. ...

 

My Excel whiz workmate says

 

  • "You’re running into a classic but nasty Excel edge case ..."
  • "Charts store references differently than formulas ..."
  • with Ctrl+H "you fixed worksheet formulas, but you silently broke the internal chart series metadata ..."

Possible solutions:

 

     

  1. (Fastest): Force Excel to rebuild all chart series via VBA ...
  2. Convert external-style references to internal ones (if Option 1 fails) ...
  3. (Last resort, no VBA): Copy chart as a chart ...

 

Hopefully those suggested solutions give you an idea. Admittedly, I still don't understand the original problem.





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