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Data Migration Disaster? How to Find and Fix Broken Links in Excel

Or How To Prevent Links From Breaking in the First Place!

How to Avoid a Major Cause of Data Loss in Excel

Ever had one of your users open an Excel spreadsheet and notice something was missing? Data missing from a cell (or lots of cells)? Missing graphs? Missing account numbers? Missing totals? Worse yet, incorrect totals? As you know, these are just some of the symptoms of broken links. Happens all the time.

But do you know the modern, quick way to find and fix broken links in Excel?

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Data Migrations Have a Reputation …
for Breaking Links

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Data migrations, file system changes, and users who randomly move or rename their files and folders or edit links contained in their data all have one thing in common: These activities cause lost data due to broken links. Imagine thousands of spreadsheets with missing customer account data or important analysis data. The potential for downtime and disruption is hair-raising. And we all know how much the bosses appreciate that.

Data migration and file system restructuring are “necessary evils.” “Necessary” because your organization may be moving to the Cloud or upgrading to a new server system or archiving data. The benefits are potentially faster operations, decreased costs and possibly a pay raise for you (the IT pro). And the “evils”? Well, it’s just that these same projects usually come with that pesky liability of data loss due to broken links (which reduces the likelihood of that pay raise).

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LinkFixer Advanced

Protects your good links and fixes your broken links — automatically!

Internal links, external links, broken URLs, call it what you will. If it’s a link, LinkFixer Advanced™ can protect it or fix it.

No credit card required

Protecting Your Data

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LinkFixer Advanced supports not only Microsoft Excel but many other file types too.  This allows for the automatic reporting, maintenance and repair of links contained within spreadsheets or just about any other type of file. What’s more, LinkFixer Advanced can whip through thousands — or even millions — of files at a time, in batch, saving you hours.

In case you’re wondering whether or not LinkFixer Advanced can protect and repair the specific file types you have, the answer is almost certainly “yes.” LinkFixer Advanced currently supports over 70 of the world’s most popular file types, such as Microsoft Word, Access, PowerPoint, InDesign, HTML, AutoCAD and many others. For a complete list of file types, visit the main LinkFixer Advanced page by clicking here.

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No credit card required

Move It, But Don’t Lose It

One way you can use LinkFixer Advanced would be to use it to do your migration or folder system changes for you. With the Move/Rename tool, you can quickly move and rename batches of files, with LinkFixer Advanced automatically handling all the links so that they don't break in the process.

Stressbuster for a Foolproof Move

Guess who won’t have to worry about any broken links related to your Excel files (or almost any other files too, for that matter)? Yup, you. And you can move and/or rename thousands of files and folders at the same time without breaking a single link.

Options That Work for You

But what if you have to use a certain application for your data migration?

Even if you don’t use LinkFixer Advanced to do the actual migration, it can still fix broken links for you — or prevent them from breaking in the first place.

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Advanced Automatic Link Protection and Repair

If you prefer to use your own migration tool, LinkFixer Advanced can still take care of all your links for you, with two possible options — depending on your situation.

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Before Data Migration

If you’ve not yet started your data migration, then the Inoculate & Cure option is absolutely, 100% the smartest choice you can make, since preventing link breakage saves you a ton of time and guards against data loss. “Inoculate” means to prepare and protect. This feature sets up your files and links so they can be automatically restored after your migration.

A Pound of Prevention Is the Cure

Once your migration is complete, you simply run the Cure function to have LinkFixer Advanced automatically repair any links that were broken during the migration. Imagine completing a data migration with zero missing data due to broken links!

Remember those spreadsheet scenarios we mentioned in the first paragraph above? Imagine none of that ever happening again. Imagine no downtime, no complaining end-users and no unhappy bosses.

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After Data Migration

If you didn’t know about LinkFixer Advanced ahead of time, and you now have thousands or millions of broken links, don’t sweat it. We’ve got you covered.

Crime Scene Clean-Up

In this situation, you’d use the Modify Links feature as your “disaster recovery mode.” Leave it to LinkFixer Advanced to find and fix your broken links, instantly restoring any missing data. That means fully functioning and available Excel spreadsheets. It also means no link-related downtime, no end-users complaining that they can’t access their data, and possibly even a boss willing to admit that you saved the day.

To see how LinkFixer Advanced can make your life simpler, click here for video demonstrations.

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Take Control of the Excel File Links Referencing Other Files

Using LinkFixer Advanced, you can protect or adjust hyperlinks, object links and “paste special” links. LinkFixer Advanced offers significant benefits including:

  • Fast processing speeds.
  • Ability to process Excel links contained within protected cells and spreadsheets.
  • Ability to edit links and bypass problematic user-defined macros that could otherwise hinder processing speed.
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LinkFixer Advanced Offers You the Tools to Prevent (or Find & Fix) Broken Excel Links

LinkFixer Advanced offers multiple options to manage links in Microsoft Excel as well as numerous other file types. For more details or to discuss your specific situation with a Service Consultant, call us today at (727) 442-1822.

No credit card required

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Detailed Link Reporting

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In addition to protecting good links or fixing broken links after data migration, LinkFixer Advanced can easily create a variety of detailed reports showing all the links within your Microsoft Excel files. These reports can help you easily identify and fix any links that are not working — which means you avoid data loss, and that’s a big win for the whole team.

Need a broken links checker?

If you want to know how many links are contained in your data, where they're located, what they link to, and what their status is, you need a broken link checker. Link Reporter is a free tool that will supply all the insight you need on your links.

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