A moved source workbook can leave a report showing old figures or asking for a file it cannot find. First decide whether the report must continue updating or become a fixed historical copy. Those outcomes require different actions.

Preserve both the report and any available source files before changing links. Record the expected source filename, location and reporting date. A similarly named workbook may contain a different period, so finding an accessible file is not enough.

Reconnect a report that must stay live

In current Microsoft 365 Excel for Windows, open Data, Queries and Connections, Workbook Links. Use the source’s menu and Change Source to select its correct replacement location. Older desktop releases may expose an Edit Links dialog instead.

After updating, inspect a value you know changed in the source and confirm the report’s corresponding result. Check the workbook’s refresh settings as well. Suppressing a prompt does not establish that the data is current.

Microsoft notes that workbook links can also occur in names, objects and chart content. Do not declare a workbook self-contained after checking only the first obvious cell formula.

Break links only for a deliberate fixed copy

Breaking a source link replaces formulas that use that source with their current values. Microsoft warns that this cannot be undone, so save a separate copy before using Break Links.

Check that those current values are the ones you actually want to preserve. Breaking a stale link can preserve stale results just as effectively as correct ones. Label the resulting copy with its reporting date and explain that it will no longer update from that source.

Reopen the handover copy and compare key totals with the accepted report. Keep the live original and its source relationship until the recipient confirms the intended outcome. The useful completion test is either a verified update from the correct source or a verified, intentionally fixed snapshot.

References: Microsoft: managing workbook links.