Keep MS Excel From Automatically Updating Charts

Dennis Faas's picture

Sometimes it seems as though Microsoft Excel is almost too efficient. For instance, Excel will automatically update a chart when you make a change to the chart data.

If you need to capture a screenshot of your chart before a change is made, you need to break the link to its data source.

Follow the steps below to prevent MS Excel from automatically updating your charts:


  1. Launch MS Excel if it isn't already open.
  2. Copy the chart that you do not want to be automatically updated to another workbook.
  3. In the second workbook, go to Edit | Links.
  4. Click the link between the chart and its data source.
  5. Click the Break Link button.
  6. In the error warning box, click the Break Links button, and then click Close.

You can now capture a screenshot of your chart data before the chart is updated.


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