External links hiding in named ranges — how to find and remove them
No cell in this workbook shows a formula pointing anywhere external, and yet Excel still lists an external link. Open Name Manager and you'll find a defined name whose “Refers To” box points straight at another workbook — invisible until you go looking there specifically.
Why the name outlives the formula
Deleting a formula that used a named range does not delete the name itself. The name stays in Name Manager, still pointing at whatever it was originally defined to point at, including another workbook. Excel counts that as an active external link regardless of whether any current formula actually calls the name.
How names pick up external references in the first place
The most common route is copying a sheet between workbooks — Excel brings along every name that sheet's formulas used, refers-to and all, even names you never see referenced on the sheet itself. It's also common in files that started as a copy of a shared template: the template's names, some pointing at a master file, come along for the ride.
Finding and clearing them
Open Formulas → Name Manager and look down the “Refers To” column for anything containing a bracketed workbook name, like [Corp2024.xlsx]. Delete names you don't need, or edit Refers To to point at a local range for names you do. Watch for hidden names too — Name Manager shows hidden defined names by default, but scoped names (worksheet-level rather than workbook-level) can be easy to scroll past in a workbook with many sheets. Upload the file below to get the full name list with external references flagged, so nothing gets missed in the scroll.