To keep imported external data up-to-date, you can refresh it to see recent updates and deletes. Excel provides many options for refreshing data, including when you open the workbook and at timed intervals.
: To stop a refresh, press Esc. To refresh a worksheet, press Ctrl + F5. To refresh a workbook, press Ctrl + Alt + F5.
Learn about refreshing data in the Excel app
The following table summarizes the refresh actions, shortcut keys, and commands.
|
To |
Press |
Or |
|---|---|---|
|
Refresh selected data in the worksheet |
Alt + F5 |
Select Data > The drop-down arrow next to Refresh All > Refresh |
|
Refresh all data in the workbook |
Ctrl + Alt + F5 |
Select Data > Refresh All |
|
Check refresh status |
Double-click the message, "Retrieving Data" on the status bar.  |
|
|
Stop a refresh |
Esc |
 |
|
Stop a background refresh |
Double-click the message on the status bar.  And then select Stop Refresh in the External Data Refresh Status dialog box.  |
Data in a workbook may be stored directly in the workbook, or it may be stored in an external data source, such as a text file, a database, or the cloud. The first time you import external data, Excel creates connection information, sometimes saved to an Office Data Connection (ODC) file, which describes how to locate, log in, query, and access the external data source.
When you are connected to an external data source, you can perform a refresh operation to retrieve the updated data. Each time that you refresh data, you see the most recent version of the data, including any changes that were made to the data since it was last refreshed.
Learn more about refreshing data
This explains the basic process of what happens when you refresh data connected to an external data source:
-
Someone starts refreshing the workbook's connections to get up-to-date data.
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Connections are made to external data sources that are used in the workbook.
: There are a variety of data sources you can access, such as OLAP, SQL Server, OLEDB providers, and ODBC drivers.
-
The data in the workbook is updated.
Learn about security concerns
When you are connected to an external data source and you attempt to refresh the data, it's important to be aware of potential security issues, and to know what you can do about any security issues.
Trust Connections - External data may be currently disabled on your computer. To refresh the data when you open a workbook, you must enable the data connections by using the Trust Center bar, or you must place the workbook in a trusted location. For more information, see these articles:
ODC file - A data connection file (.odc) often contains one or more queries that are used to refresh external data. By replacing this file, a user who has malicious intent can design a query to access confidential information and distribute it to other users or perform other harmful actions. Therefore, it's important to ensure that the connection file was authored by a reliable individual, and the connection file is secure and comes from a trusted Data Connection Library (DCL).
Credentials - Accessing an external data source usually requires credentials (such as a user name and a password) that are used to authenticate the user. Make sure that these credentials are provided to you in a safe and secure manner, and that you do not inadvertently reveal these credentials to others. If your external data source requires a password to gain access to the data, you can require that the password is entered each time the external data range is refreshed.
Sharing - Are you sharing this workbook with other people who might want to refresh data? Help your colleagues avoid data refresh errors by reminding them to request permissions on the data sources providing the data.
For more information, see Manage data source settings and permissions.
You can refresh an external data range automatically when you open the workbook. You can also save the workbook without saving the external data to shrink the size of the file.
-
Select a cell in the external data range.
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Select Data > Queries & Connections > Connections tab, right click a query in the list, and then select Properties.
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In the Connection Properties dialog box, on the Usage tab, under Refresh control, select the Refresh data when opening the file check box.
-
If you want to save the workbook with the query definition but without the external data, select the Remove data from the external data range before saving the workbook check box.
-
Select a cell in the external data range.
-
Select Data > Queries & Connections > Connections tab, right click a query in the list, and then select Properties.
-
Click the Usage tab.
-
Select the Refresh every check box, and then enter the number of minutes between each refresh operation.
If your workbook is connected to a large data source, refreshing it might take a little longer than you expect. Consider running a background refresh. This returns control of Excel to you instead of making you wait several minutes or more for the refresh to finish.
: You can't run an OLAP query in the background and you can't run a query for any connection type that retrieves data for the Data Model.
-
Select a cell in the external data range.
-
Select Data > Queries & Connections > Connections tab, right click a query in the list, and then select Properties.
-
Select the Usage tab.
-
Select the Enable background refresh check box to run the query in the background. Clear this check box to run the query while you wait.
Tip While you record a macro that includes a query, Excel doesn't run the query in the background. To change the recorded macro so that the query runs in the background, edit the macro in the Visual Basic Editor. Change the refresh method for the QueryTable object from BackgroundQuery := False to BackgroundQuery := True.
Stored passwords aren't encrypted, so they're not recommended. If your data source needs a password to connect to it, you can require that users enter the password before they can refresh the external data range. The following procedure doesn't apply to data retrieved from a text file (.txt) or a Web query (.iqy).
: Use strong passwords that combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Weak passwords don't mix these elements. For example, Strong password: Y6dh!et5. Weak password: House27. Passwords should be 8 or more characters in length. A pass phrase that uses 14 or more characters is better.
It's critical that you remember your password. If you forget your password, Microsoft cannot retrieve it. Store the passwords that you write down in a secure place away from the information that they help protect.
-
Select a cell in the external data range.
-
Select Data > Queries & Connections > Connections tab, right click a query in the list, and then select Properties.
-
Select the Definition tab, and then clear the Save password check box.
: Excel prompts you for the password only the first time that the external data range is refreshed in each Excel session. The next time you start Excel, you'll be prompted for the password again if you open the workbook that contains the query and then attempt a refresh operation.
Detailed help for refreshing data
When you shape your data in Power Query, you typically load the changes to a worksheet or Data Model. It's important to understand the difference when you are refreshing data and how you refresh it.
: When you refresh, new columns added since the last refresh operation are added to Power Query. To see these new columns, re-examine the Source step in the query. For more information, see Create Power Query formulas.
Most queries are based on external data resources of one kind or another. However, there is a key difference between Excel and Power Query. Power Query caches the external data locally to help improve performance. Furthermore, Power Query doesn’t automatically refresh the local cache to help prevent incurring costs for data sources in Azure.
: If you receive a message in the yellow message bar at the top of your window, that states “This preview may be up to n days old.”, it usually means the local cache is out-of-date. You should select Refresh to bring it up-to-date.
Refresh a query in the Power Query Editor
When you refresh a query from the Power Query Editor, you are not only bringing in updated data from the external data source, you are also updating the local cache. But this refresh operation does not update the query in the worksheet or Data Model.
-
In Power Query Editor, select Home
-
Select Refresh Preview > Refresh Preview (the current query in Preview Data) or Refresh All (all opened queries from the Queries pane.)
-
At the bottom of the Power Query Editor on the right, a message displays, “Preview downloaded at <hh:mm> AM/PM”. This message displays upon first importing, and after each subsequent refresh operation in the Power Query Editor.
Refresh a query in a worksheet
-
In Excel, select a cell in a query in a worksheet.
-
Select the Query tab in the ribbon, and then select Refresh > Refresh.
-
The worksheet and the query are refreshed from the external data source and the Power Query cache.
:
-
When you refresh a query that was imported from an Excel table or named range, pay attention to your current worksheet. If you want to change the data in the worksheet that contains the Excel table, make sure you have selected the correct worksheet and not the worksheet that contains the loaded query.
-
This is especially important if you are changing the column headers in the Excel Table. They often look similar and it’s easy to confuse the two. It’s a good idea to rename the worksheets to reflect the difference. For example, you could rename them to “TableData” and “QueryTable” to emphasize the distinction.
At any time, you can select Refresh to update the data for the PivotTables in your workbook. You can refresh the data for PivotTables connected to external data, such as a database (SQL Server, Oracle, Access, or other), Analysis Services cube, data feed, as well as data from a source table in the same or a different workbook. PivotTables can be refreshed manually or automatically when you open the workbook.
: For more information, see Create a PivotTable to analyze worksheet data and Change the source data for a PivotTable.
Manually refresh
-
Select the anywhere in the PivotTable to show the PivotTable Analyze tab in the ribbon.
: To refresh a PivotTable in Excel for the web, right-click anywhere on the PivotTable, and then select Refresh.
-
Select Refresh or Refresh All.
-
To check the refresh status if refreshing takes longer than you expect, select the arrow under Refresh > Refresh Status.
-
To stop refreshing, select Cancel Refresh, or press Esc.
Prevent column widths and cell formatting from adjusting
If the column widths and cell formatting of your data adjust when you refresh the PivotTable data, and you don’t want that to happen, make sure the following options are checked:
-
Select the anywhere in the PivotTable to show the PivotTable Analyze tab in the ribbon.
-
Select the PivotTable Analyze tab > in the PivotTable group, select Options.
-
On the Layout & Format tab > select the checkboxes for Autofit column widths on update and Preserve cell formatting on update.
Refresh data automatically when opening the workbook
-
Select the anywhere in the PivotTable to show the PivotTable Analyze tab in the ribbon.
-
Select the PivotTable Analyze tab > in the PivotTable group, select Options.
-
On the Data tab, select Refresh data when opening the file.
Refreshing an offline cube file, which recreates the file by using the most recent data from the server cube, can be time consuming and require a lot of temporary disk space. Start the process at a time when you don't need immediate access to other files in Excel, and make sure you have adequate disk space to save the file again.
-
Select the PivotTable connected to the offline cube file.
-
On the Data tab, in the Queries & Connections group, click the arrow under Refresh All, and then click Refresh.
For more information, see Work with offline cube files.
-
On the worksheet, click a mapped cell to select the XML map that you want to refresh.
-
If the Developer tab isn't available, do the following to display it:
-
Click File, click Options, and then click Customize Ribbon.
-
Under Main Tabs, select the Developer check box, and then click OK.
-
-
On the Developer tab, in the XML group, click Refresh Data.
For more information, see Overview of XML in Excel.
When you refresh a Data Model in Power Pivot , you can also see whether your refresh succeeds, fails, or is cancelled. For more information, see Power Pivot: Powerful data analysis and data modeling in Excel.
: Addition of data, changing data, or editing filters always triggers recalculation of DAX formulas that depend on that data source.
Refresh and view the status of refresh
-
In Power Pivot, select Home > Get External Data > Refresh or Refresh All to refresh the current table or all of the tables in the Data Model.
-
Status of the refresh is indicated for each connection used in the data model. There are three possible outcomes:
-
Success - Reports on the number of rows imported into each table.
-
Error - Occurs if the database is offline, you no longer have permissions, or a table or column is deleted or renamed in the source. Verify the database is available, perhaps by creating a new connection in a different workbook.
-
Cancelled - Excel did not issue the refresh request, probably because refresh is disabled on the connection.
Use table properties to show the queries used in data refresh
Data refresh is simply rerunning the same query that was used to get the data in the first place. You can view, and sometimes modify, the query by viewing table properties in the Power Pivot window.
-
To view the query used during data refresh, select Power Pivot > Manage to open the Power Pivot window.
-
Select Design > Table Properties.
-
Switch to Query Editor to view the underlying query.
Queries are not visible for every type of data source. For example, queries are not shown for data feed imports.
Set connection properties to cancel data refresh
In Excel, you can set connection properties that determine the frequency of data refresh. If refresh is not allowed on a particular connection, you’ll get a cancellation notice when you run Refresh All or attempt to refresh a specific table that uses the connection.
-
To view connection properties, in Excel, select Data > Queries & Connections to view a list of all connections used in the workbook.
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Select the Connections tab, right-click a connection, and then click Properties.
-
In the Usage tab, under Refresh control, if the checkbox is cleared for Refresh this connection on Refresh All, you will get a cancellation when you try Refresh All in the Power Pivot window.
Refresh data on SharePoint Server 2013
On SharePoint Server, you can schedule unattended data refresh on the server, but doing so requires that Power Pivot for SharePoint 2013 is installed and configured in your SharePoint environment. Check with your SharePoint administrator to find out if scheduled data refresh is available. For more information, see Configure scheduled data refresh for Power Pivot.
When the data you use for your map changes, you can refresh it manually in 3D Maps. The changes will then be reflected on your map. Here’s how:
-
In 3D Maps, select Home > Refresh Data.
Add data to Power Map
To add new data to your 3D MapsPower Map:
-
In 3D Maps, go to the map you want to add data to.
-
Leave the 3D Maps window open.
-
In Excel select the worksheet data you want to add.
-
On the Excel ribbon, click Insert > Map arrow > Add Selected Data to Power Map. Your 3D Maps will automatically update to show the additional data. For more information, see Get and prep your data for Power Map.
Refreshing external data in Excel Services has unique requirements.
Control how data is refreshed
You can control how to refresh data from an external data source by doing one or more of the following.
Refresh on open with Excel Services
In Excel, you can create a workbook that automatically refreshes external data when the file is opened. In this case, Excel Services always refreshes the data before it displays a workbook and creates a new session. Use this if you want to ensure that up-to-date data is always displayed when you open the workbook in Excel Services.
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In a workbook with external data connections, select the Data tab.
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In the Connections group, select Connections > select the connection > Properties.
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Select the Usage tab and then select Refresh data when opening the file.
: If you clear the Refresh data when opening the file check box, the data that is cached with the workbook is displayed, which means that when a user manually refreshes the data, the user sees up-to-date data during the current session, but the data is not saved to the workbook.
Refresh with an .odc file
If you are using an Office Data Connection file (.odc), make sure you also set the Always use connection file check box:
-
In a workbook with external data connections, select the Data tab.
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In the Connections group, select Connections > select the connection > Properties.
-
Select the Definition tab and then select Always use connection file.
The trusted file location site settings, Short Session Timeout and External Data Cache Lifetime, can also have an impact on refresh operations. For more information, see your administrator or the Help system.
Manual refresh
-
Select a cell in the PivotTable report.
-
On the Excel Web Access toolbar, under the Update menu, select Refresh Selected Connection.
:
-
If this Refresh command is not visible, then the Web Part author has cleared the Refresh Selected Connection, Refresh All Connections property. For more information, see Excel Web Access Web Part custom properties.
-
Any interactive operation that causes a re-query of an OLAP data source initiates a manual refresh operation.
-
-
Refresh all connections - On the Excel Web Access toolbar, under the Update menu, click Refresh All Connections.
-
Periodic refresh - You can specify that data automatically refreshes at a specified interval after the workbook is opened for each connection in the workbook. For example, an inventory database may be updated every hour, and so the workbook author has defined the workbook to automatically refresh every 60 minutes.
A Web Part author can select or clear the Allow Excel Web Access Periodic Data Refresh property to allow or prevent periodic refresh. When the time interval elapses, by default, you'll see a refresh alert display at the bottom of the Excel Web Access Web Part.
An Excel Web Access Web Part author can also set the Display Periodic Data Refresh Prompt property to control the behavior of the message that is displayed when Excel Services performs a periodic data refresh during a session:
For more information, see Excel Web Access Web Part custom properties.
-
Always - means that the message is displayed with a prompt at each interval.
-
Optionally - means that a user can choose to continue periodic refresh without displaying a message.
-
Never - means that Excel Web Access performs a periodic refresh without displaying a message or prompt.
-
Cancel a refresh - While the workbook is refreshing, Excel Services displays a message with a prompt because it could take longer than you expect. You can select Cancel to stop refreshing so you can finish it later at a more convenient time. Data returned by queries before you canceled the refresh will display.
Excel incorporates Power Query (also called Get & Transform) technology to provide greater capability when importing, refreshing, and authenticating data sources, managing Power Query data sources, and shaping the data into a table that fits your requirements.
For more information, check out this page: Use Power Query in Excel for the Web - Microsoft Support
For SharePoint server, check out this page: Refreshing data in a workbook in SharePoint Server - Microsoft Support
For most connections, click any cell in the range or table that uses the connection, and then do one of the following:
-
Update only the selected data Press ALT+F5, or on the Data tab, in the Connections group, click the arrow under Refresh All, and then click Refresh.
-
Update all data in the workbook Press CTRL+ALT+F5, or on the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All.
-
Control how or when the connection is refreshed On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click the arrow under Refresh All, and then click Connection Properties.
In the dialog box that opens, choose the options you want on the Usage tab, under Refresh Control.
Some refresh operations require more steps, as detailed in the following sections. If you see your data source listed, review the corresponding section.
You can refresh an external data range automatically when you open the workbook. Optionally, you can save the workbook without saving the external data to shrink the size of the file.
-
Click a cell in the external data range.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All, and then click Connection Properties.
-
Click the Usage tab.
-
Under Refresh control, select the Refresh data when opening the file check box.
-
If you want to save the workbook with the query definition but without the external data, select the Remove data from the external data range before saving the workbook check box.
-
Click a cell in the external data range.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All, and then click Connection Properties.
-
Click the Usage tab.
-
Select the Refresh every check box, and then enter the number of minutes between each refresh operation.
Stored passwords aren't encrypted, so they're not recommended. If your data source needs a password to connect to it, you can require that users enter the password before they can refresh the external data range. The following procedure doesn't apply to data retrieved from a text file (.txt) or a Web query (.iqy).
Use strong passwords that combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Weak passwords don't mix these elements. For example, Strong password: Y6dh!et5. Weak password: House27. Passwords should be 8 or more characters in length. A pass phrase that uses 14 or more characters is better.
It's critical that you remember your password. If you forget your password, Microsoft cannot retrieve it. Store the passwords that you write down in a secure place away from the information that they help protect.
-
Click a cell in the external data range.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All, and then click Connection Properties.
-
Click the Definition tab, and then clear the Save password check box.
: Excel prompts you for the password only the first time that the external data range is refreshed in each Excel session. The next time you start Excel, you'll be prompted for the password again if you open the workbook that contains the query and then attempt a refresh operation.
For very large data sets, consider running a background refresh. This returns control of Excel to you instead of making you wait several minutes or more for the refresh to finish.
-
Click a cell in the external data range.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All, and then click Connection Properties.
: You can't run an OLAP query in the background.
: You can't run a query for any connection type that retrieves data for the Data Model.
-
Click the Usage tab.
-
Select the Enable background refresh check box to run the query in the background. Clear this check box to run the query while you wait.
While you record a macro that includes a query, Excel doesn't run the query in the background. To change the recorded macro so that the query runs in the background, edit the macro in the Visual Basic Editor. Change the refresh method for the QueryTable object from BackgroundQuery := False to BackgroundQuery := True.
If your workbook is connected to a large data source, refreshing it might take a little longer than you expect. To check on the refresh, or to cancel it, do one of the following:
-
Check the status of a query A message appears on the Excel status bar to indicate that the query is running. Double-click the message to check the status of the query.
-
Stop a background refresh To stop a query that's running in the background, double-click the query status message on the status bar to display the External Data Refresh Status dialog box, and then click Stop Refresh.
-
Stop a query To stop a query from running when background refresh is turned off, press the Esc key.
If you used Get & Transform to query a text file, no further steps are needed. If you imported the text file, the steps to refresh are as follows:
-
Click any cell in the range or table that contains the link to the imported text file.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All.
To update only the selected data, click Refresh.
You can also right-click a cell in the range or table, and then click Refresh.
-
In the Import Text File dialog box, browse to your text file, and then click Import.
Refreshing an offline cube file, which recreates the file by using the most recent data from the server cube, can be time consuming and require a lot of temporary disk space. Start the process at a time when you don't need immediate access to other files in Excel, and make sure you have adequate disk space to save the file again.
-
Click the PivotTable connected to the offline cube file.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All, and then click Refresh.
-
On the worksheet, click a mapped cell to select the XML map that you want to refresh.
-
If the Developer tab isn't available, do the following to display it:
-
Click File, click Options, and then click Customize Ribbon.
-
Under Main Tabs, select the Developer check box, and then click OK.
-
-
On the Developer tab, in the XML group, click Refresh Data.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Refresh All.
If you have multiple connections, and you only want to update a certain one, select any cell within that data range, click the arrow next to Refresh All, and click Refresh.
Control how or when the connection is refreshed
-
Click any cell that contains your connected data.
-
On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click the arrow next to Refresh All, and click Connection Properties.
-
On the Usage tab, set any options you want to change.
For very large data sets, consider checking the Enable background refresh option. This returns control of Excel to you as soon as the refresh begins, instead of making you wait for the refresh to finish.
Cancel or check the status of a refresh
If your workbook is connected to a large data source, refreshing it might take a little longer than you expect. To check on the refresh, or to cancel it, do one of the following:
-
Check the status of a query A message appears on the Excel status bar to indicate that the query is running. Double-click the message to check the status of the query.
-
Stop a background refresh To stop a query that's running in the background, double-click the query status message on the status bar to display the External Data Refresh Status dialog box, and then click Stop Refresh.
-
Stop a query To stop a query from running when background refresh is turned off, press the Esc key.
When you use the Power Pivot add-in to refresh previously imported data, you can see whether refresh succeeds, fails, or is cancelled.
In Power Pivot, click Home > Get External Data > Refresh or Refresh All to re-import the current table or all of the tables in the data model.
Status of the refresh is indicated for each connection used in the data model. There are three possible outcomes.
“Success” reports on the number of rows imported into each table.
“Error” can occur if the database is offline, you no longer have permissions, or a table or column is deleted or renamed in the source. Verify the database is available, perhaps by creating a new connection in a different workbook.
“Cancelled” means that Excel did not issue the refresh request, probably because refresh is disabled on the connection.
: Are you sharing this workbook with other people who might want to refresh data? Help your colleagues avoid data refresh errors by reminding them to request permissions on the data sources providing the data.
Table properties show queries used in data refresh
Data refresh is simply rerunning the same query that was used to get the data in the first place. You can view, and sometimes modify, the query by viewing table properties in the Power Pivot window.
-
To view the query used during data refresh, click Power Pivot > Manage to open the Power Pivot window.
-
Click Design > Table Properties.
-
Switch to Query Editor to view the underlying query.
Queries are not visible for every type of data source. For example, queries are not shown for data feed imports.
Connection properties that cancel data refresh
In Excel, you can set connection properties that determine the frequency of data refresh. If refresh is not allowed on a particular connection, you’ll get a cancellation notice when you run Refresh All or attempt to refresh a specific table that uses the connection.
-
To view connection properties, in Excel, click Data > Connections to view a list of all connections used in the workbook.
-
Select a connection and click Properties.
-
In Usage, under Refresh control, if the checkbox is cleared for Refresh this connection on Refresh All, you will get a cancellation when you try Refresh All in the Power Pivot window.
Refresh data on SharePoint Server 2013 or later
On SharePoint Server, you can schedule unattended data refresh on the server, but doing so requires that Power Pivot for SharePoint 2013 is installed and configured in your SharePoint environment. Check with your SharePoint administrator to find out if scheduled data refresh is available.
: The Power Query Editor is part of Get & Transform. To learn more, see Get & Transform in Excel 2016.
With the Power Query Editor, you can refresh a query to import the latest data into a table without having to recreate the query.
To refresh a query:
-
Click Get & Transform > Show Queries.
-
In the Workbook Queries pane, select the query you want to refresh.
-
In the Power Query Editor ribbon, click Home > Query > Refresh preview.
When the data you use for your map changes, you can refresh it manually in 3D Maps. The changes will then be reflected on your map. Here’s how:
-
In 3D Maps, click Home > Refresh Data.
Add data to Power Map
To add new data to your 3D MapsPower Map:
-
In 3D Maps, go to the map you want to add data to.
-
Leaving the 3D Maps window open, click in Excel and select the worksheet data you want to add.
-
On the Excel ribbon, click Insert > Map arrow > Add Selected Data to Power Map.
Your 3D Maps will automatically update to show the additional data.
Data in a Microsoft Office Excel workbook that has been displayed in Excel Services can come from two different locations. The data may be stored directly in the workbook, or it may be stored in an external data source, such as in a database or in an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) cube.
If the data comes from an external data source, the workbook author or administrator has defined the connection information, often in an Office data connection (.odc) file, which describes how to locate, log in, query, and access the external data source.
When you are connected to an external data source, you can perform a refresh operation to retrieve the updated data. Each time that you refresh data, you see the most recent version of the data, including any changes that were made to the data since it was last refreshed.
Learn about refreshing data
The following illustration explains the basic process of what happens when you refresh data connected to an external data source.
-
A refresh operation gets up-to-date data.
-
A connection, often saved to a connection file, defines all the information needed to access and retrieve data from an external data source.
-
There are a variety of data sources you can access, such as OLAP, SQL Server, OLEDB providers, and ODBC drivers.
-
Up-to-date data is added to the current workbook.
Learn about security concerns
When you are connected to an external data source and you attempt to refresh the data, it's important to be aware of potential security issues, and to know what you can do about any security issues.
A data connection file often contains one or more queries that are used to refresh external data. By replacing this file, a user who has malicious intent can design a query to access confidential information and distribute it to other users or perform other harmful actions. Therefore, it's important to ensure that the connection file was authored by a reliable individual, and the connection file is secure and comes from a trusted Data Connection Library (DCL).
For more information on how an administrator can author connection files, create trusted locations, and secure connection files, see Microsoft Office Excel Help and Office SharePoint Server Central Administration Help.
: Accessing an external data source usually requires credentials (such as a user name and a password) that are used to authenticate the user. Make sure that these credentials are provided to you in a safe and secure manner, and that you do not inadvertently reveal these credentials to others.
Control how data is refreshed
You can control how to refresh data from an external data source by doing one or more of the following:
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Refresh on open In Excel, a workbook author can create a workbook that automatically refreshes external data when the workbook is opened by selecting the Refresh data when opening the file check box in the Connection Properties dialog box. (On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Connections, select the connection, click Properties, click the Usage tab, and then click Refresh data when opening the file.) In this case, Excel Services always refreshes the data before it displays a workbook and creates a new session. If the workbook author clears the Refresh data when opening the file check box, the data that is cached with the workbook is displayed, which means that when a user manually refreshes the data, the user sees refreshed, up-to-date data during the current session, but the data is not saved to the workbook. If you want to ensure that up-to-date data is always displayed when you display the workbook in Excel Services, select the Refresh data when opening the file check box by using Office Excel.
If you are using an Office Data Connection file (.odc), make sure you also set the Always use connection file check box in the Connection Properties dialog box (On the Data tab, in the Connections group, click Connections, select the connection, click Properties, click the Definition tab, and then click Always use connection file).
The trusted file location site settings, Short Session Timeout and External Data Cache Lifetime, can also have an impact on refresh operations. For more information, see your administrator or the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Central Administration Help system.
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Manual refresh
: You can manually refresh only a PivotTable report.
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Select a cell in a PivotTable report.
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On the Excel Web Access toolbar, under the Update menu, click Refresh Selected Connection.
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Any interactive operation that causes a requery of an OLAP data source initiates a manual refresh operation.
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If this Refresh command is not visible, then the Web Part author has cleared the Refresh Selected Connection, Refresh All Connections property. For more information, see Excel Web Access Web Part custom properties.
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Refresh all connections On the Excel Web Access toolbar, under the Update menu, click Refresh All Connections.
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Periodic refresh By using Excel, the workbook author can specify that data automatically refreshes at a specified interval after the workbook is opened for each connection in the workbook. For example, an inventory database may be updated every hour, and so the workbook author has defined the workbook to automatically refresh every 60 minutes.
A Web Part author can select or clear the Allow Excel Web Access Periodic Data Refresh property to enable or disable this periodic refresh operation, if the property has been defined by the workbook author. When the time interval elapses, by default, the following refresh alert prompt is displayed at the bottom of the Excel Web Access Web Part:
Refresh data for <List of Connections>? (Now) (Always) (Don't ask me again)
An Excel Web Access Web Part author can also set the Display Periodic Data Refresh Prompt property to control the behavior of the message that is displayed when Excel Services performs a periodic data refresh during a session:
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Always means that the message is displayed with a prompt at each interval.
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Optionally means that a user can choose to continue periodic refresh without displaying a message.
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Never means that Excel Web Access performs a periodic refresh without displaying a message or prompt.
For more information, see Excel Web Access Web Part custom properties.
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Cancel a refresh Because a refresh operation may take longer than you expect, you can cancel it. While the refresh operation occurs, Excel Services displays a message with a prompt. Click Cancel to interrupt the operation, so that you can complete the refresh operation at a more convenient time. Data returned by queries before you cancelled the refresh operation will display.
See Also
Refresh external data in a workbook in SharePoint Server
Change formula recalculation, iteration, or precision in Excel
