Cell links: Consolidate or maintain data consistency

Cell links let you pull data from one sheet into another and keep it in sync automatically. 

Keep in mind 

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

Inbound and outbound links

There are two types of cell links:

• An inbound link in a cell gets its value from a cell in another sheet. A cell with an inbound link is the destination cell for that link, and the sheet containing that cell is the destination sheet. A destination cell can have only one inbound link.
• When a cell has an outbound link, the value in the cell updates a cell in another sheet. The cell with the outbound link is called the source cell, and the sheet containing it is the source sheet. A source cell can link to multiple destination cells. 

Identify destination cells by the light blue arrow on the right side of the cell, and source cells by the grey arrow in the bottom-right corner of the cell.

To see the sheet name for an inbound or outbound link, select the linked cell.

To visit the sheet value that is linked in from or out to, select the linked cell, hover the mouse over the text that appears, and select the link to the sheet.

Create an inbound cell link

To 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. Select a cell, and either:

• In grid view, select Cell Linking 
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    in the toolbar to display the cell linking form.

• In table view, right-click the cell and select Link cell to another sheet 

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  In table view, you can create cell linking by copying and pasting across tabs using a slip window. Additionally, use the shortcut Cmd + Shift + K to make this easier.

3. In the modal, select your sheet on the left. You can use the search bar to access your sheet by name.
4. Once you select your sheet. Select the cells on the right.
5. Select Create Cell Links. 

This creates a link from the referenced cell, and a blue arrow appears on the right side of the destination cell.

Keep in mind that currently, when you link a date cell to a text/number cell, Smartsheet converts it to U.S. format (MM/DD/YYYY), regardless of your sheet’s region or Smartsheet settings.

Tips for effectively working with cell links

1. When you create an inbound link, an outbound link is automatically created in the source sheet.
2. You can create up to 500 links from the same source sheet at a time, and a destination sheet can have a total of 500,000 inbound links. 
3. You can select multiple cells to create a link to each one:

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

4. Cells containing cell links don't trigger actions that change the sheet automatically. This includes formulas that reference another cell via an inbound cell link.
5. If your cell link button is greyed out, check whether the selected cell can accept a link and whether you have the required permission. 

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 selecting it twice and picking new source cells from the Cell Linking form.

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

1. Select a cell (or pick and drag to highlight a group of cells) that contains an inbound link.
2. Right-click and select either:

• In grid view, Remove Link.
• In table view, Clear contents and then Remove cell link. 

You can also delete a cell link by using the backspace key. 

Outbound links

Removing outbound links applies only to grid view. 

You must remove outbound links one at a time. To remove an outbound link:

1. In the sheet containing the outbound link, select the source cell.
2.  Hover over the linked cell to see the delete link, and select delete link.

Deleting sheet rows that include linked cells impacts the cell links. Deleting a row that includes a source cell creates a broken cell link in the destination sheet. Deleting a row with a linked destination cell removes the link from the source sheet.

Use the paste special feature to create links 

Use Paste Special if you're starting in the source sheet or if you want to create links to the same source cells in multiple destination sheets.

To 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. In the same browser tab, open the destination sheet, select the cell where you want to create the links.
3. Right-click (Mac users can use [Ctrl] + click) and select Paste Special to display the Paste Special form.

4. Select the Link to copied cells option, then select OK. This creates links to the copied cells, starting with the selected cell.

   You can’t create links to cells in empty rows or to cells that were deleted after you copied them. 

5. If necessary, repeat steps 2-3 to create more links to the copied cells in other sheets.

Limitations

Not all cells can accept cell links. The restrictions depend on the column type or your sheet's settings.

Columns that never accept cell links

1. Attachments and discussions columns don't support cell links, as they’re designed for files and comments.
2. Cells on Project/Gantt sheets with dependencies enabled. When dependencies are enabled on a Project or Gantt sheet, Smartsheet automatically controls certain cell values. As a result, you cannot create inbound links in the following cells:

• Cells with a column formula.
• Start dates that have a dependency.
• Finish dates.
• Predecessors.
• Parent rollup values (start date, finish date, duration, and % complete).

You can still create links in duration cells and start date cells that don't have a predecessor assigned. When you link a start date, the finish date calculates automatically, and you can add predecessors after the link is in place.

Where you can't edit linked cells

Even if a cell has an inbound link, you can't edit it from the following contexts:

• A published sheet.
• An update request.
• The Smartsheet mobile or tablet app.
• A Report.
• An Edit form.

To edit a linked cell, open the destination sheet directly in your browser.