Sharing links in Excel spreadsheet - opens dropbox but not link

[Katherine C.]

Hi I hope someone can help with this probably simple problem. I have an excel spreadsheet that I want to share links to documents with. I find my document in dropbox, right click, share link get the address and then post this into excel as a hyperlink. Once the hyperlink opens it opens my dropbox to a blank page not to the specified document. How to do do this properly?

[Lea B.3]

Hi Mark, 

Thanks for your quick reply 🙂 

Ive had a quick look, we have copied & pasted the 'shared' links from our Dropbox page on the DP website and still get the same error message.. 😞

I will have another look tomorrow when i have a bit more time, but i believe we have tried all ways within the spreadsheet but with no joy. If we send the same links pasted in a email or even a text message they work perfectly... 

Speak soon, 

[Mark]

Hi again 🙂

If they work pasted in emails etc. then it isnt a Dropbox issue..... annoyingly it sounds like Excel is 'tweaking' them and doing something to the data. No idea what that is however!

One quick thing to check is that when you are using the links in Excel that Excel is told they are web links (so it is treating them as HTTP and not trying to open a folder on your machine). 

[Kat P.3]

The most simple way around all this is to make the hyperlink link to the file where it is stored online in your Dropbox through the "https://www.dropbox.com/filename" link. You can get this link online or by clicking the right mouse button on the file stored on your computer and clicking "Copy Dropbox Link".

Working so far for me. 

[Lea B.3]

Hi Kat, 

That will not work when you send the document, that link will only remain live to you on your own drop box on your PC, not externally.

I've found the correct way, try typing this in your cell: 

=HYPERLINK("copy and paste your drop box link here","type the name of the file you want to call it here")

if i want to share a estimate which is a PDF file, it will look like this:

=HYPERLINK("https://www.dropbox.com/s/blah020/blah020/blah020/blah020.pdf?dl=0","Estimate Number 1")

Good luck

Lea 

[Susan C.30]

Well done Lea!  I think you've cracked it.  This is indirect, but it does work.

Thank you.

Susan

[Lea B.3]

🙂 

[Kat P.3]

Good point Lea, I was having the problem with shared dropbox folders.

I wonder if you get around that problem by getting the dropbox file's share link (share file to people who have the link), and then just copy that into the Excel hyperlink box?

[Amit H.]

Same Issue.

Excel file + Hyperlink in sheet = Open excel file on browser.

Issue= Not easy to open hyperlink from excel sheet.

           Want the link to be open on single click.

Any solution please...

[Susan C.30]

Amit, mine do open on a single click.

[BarbaraHarris]

Hello all; I have set up a spreadsheet of nominations where each record has a hyperlink to suppporting documents. (I used Insert hyperlink and all the documents are in the same dropbox folder as the excel workbook) The aim is to share this with the judges so that they can all read the material. I shared a link but when I tested it, the hyperlinks didn't work.