How to Refresh Data in Excel

Manually updating reports in Excel by copy-pasting new information is a recipe for error and a massive waste of time. The "Refresh Data" feature is your ticket to creating dynamic reports that update with the click of a button. In this tutorial, we'll walk through exactly how to refresh data connections in Excel, from the simplest manual refresh to setting up fully automated updates.

What Does It Mean to "Refresh Data" in Excel?

Refreshing data in Excel simply means updating a worksheet with the latest information from an external source without you needing to do it manually. When you connect your workbook to an outside data source, Excel creates a link. Refreshing tells Excel to go back to that source, check for any changes, and pull the fresh data into your sheet.

This is incredibly useful when your Excel file is the final destination for data that lives somewhere else, like in:

• Another Excel workbook or a CSV file
• A corporate database (like SQL Server, Oracle, or Microsoft Access)
• A web page (such as a table of public data)
• Power Query, where you've combined and transformed data from multiple places

By connecting to the source and refreshing, you build a report once and can update it forever. This not only saves you countless hours but also dramatically reduces the risk of copy-paste errors.

The Easiest Method: How to Refresh Data Manually

When you just need a quick, one-time update, Excel’s manual refresh options are your best friend. There are a couple of ways to do this, depending on whether you want to update everything at once or just one specific table.

Method 1: Refresh All Connections at Once

This is the master command that updates every single external data connection in your entire workbook. If you have multiple PivotTables, data tables linked to external sources, and stock data types, this button updates them all in one go.

1. Navigate to the Data tab on the Ribbon.
2. In the Queries & Connections group, click the Refresh All button.

For those who love shortcuts, a handy keyboard trick can get this done even faster.

Keyboard shortcut for Refresh All: Ctrl + Alt + F5

Excel may show a "Running background query..." message in the status bar at the bottom of the window while it works. The time it takes will depend on the size of your data and the speed of the connection.

Method 2: Refresh a Single Table or PivotTable

Sometimes you don't need to update everything. If you've only changed the source file for one specific table in your dashboard, refreshing just that element is more efficient.

To do this, you can:

• Use the Data Tab: Click any cell inside the table or PivotTable you want to update. Go to the Data tab and click the smaller Refresh icon (the one without "All" written below it).
• Use the Right-Click Menu: This is often the quickest way. Simply right-click anywhere inside your data table, query-linked table, or PivotTable, and select Refresh from the context menu.

How to Automatically Refresh Data in Excel

Manual refreshing is great for quick updates, but the real power comes from automation. Setting up your Excel file to refresh automatically ensures your reports and dashboards are always current, saving you from having to remember to do it yourself.

Option 1: Refresh Data When the Workbook Is Opened

One of the most common and useful automation tricks is to have Excel refresh all its data connections the moment you open the file. This ensures you’re starting with the most up-to-date information every single time.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Go to the Data tab and click on Queries & Connections. This will open a side panel listing all data connections in your workbook.
2. In the Queries & Connections panel, right-click on the specific connection you want to automate and select Properties.
3. In the Connection Properties dialog box that pops up, make sure you are on the Usage tab.
4. Under the Refresh control section, check the box that says Refresh data when opening the file.
5. Click OK.

Now, the next time you open this Excel file, you'll see a yellow security bar at the top with a message like "External Data Connections have been disabled." Just click Enable Content, and Excel will automatically fetch the latest data for you. This is a security feature to prevent files from connecting to potentially unsafe sources without your permission.

Option 2: Refresh Data on a Schedule (Every X Minutes)

For dashboards that monitor data that changes frequently - like website traffic, sales numbers, or inventory levels - you might want data to refresh periodically while the file remains open. This is perfect for a report you have displayed on a monitor.

You can set this up in the same place as the previous option:

1. Navigate to Data > Queries & Connections.
2. Right-click the connection you want to schedule and select Properties.
3. On the Usage tab, check the box next to Refresh every.
4. Enter the desired refresh interval in minutes. For example, to refresh every hour, you would type 60.
5. Click OK.

Be thoughtful with this setting. Setting a very frequent refresh interval (e.g., every 1 minute) on a large dataset can make your Excel file feel slow and unresponsive, as it's constantly using resources to check for and pull in new data.

Troubleshooting Common Excel Data Refresh Issues

Sometimes, refreshing data doesn’t go as planned. Here are some of the most common roadblocks and how to fix them.

Problem: The Data Source Connection Is Broken

You click refresh, and you get an error that the source can't be found. This usually happens when the source file has been moved, renamed, or you're not connected to the right network.

• Solution: Update the File Path. Go to Data > Queries & Connections, right-click the query with the error, and select Edit to open Power Query. In the Applied Steps on the right, click the gear icon next to the "Source" step. This will let you browse for the file in its new location.

Problem: The Refresh Is Taking Too Long

If your data refresh is taking minutes instead of seconds, your file's performance can really suffer.

• Solution: Filter Data at the Source. The biggest cause of slow refreshes is pulling in too much data. If you only need data from the last 12 months, filter it within Power Query before it gets loaded into Excel. This way, Excel only has to process the data you actually need, not the entire massive dataset.

Problem: The Refresh Messes Up My Column Widths

This is a classic annoyance. You perfectly format your columns, hit refresh, and Excel automatically resizes them, squishing some columns and expanding others.

• Solution: Adjust Table Properties. Right-click your table and go to Table Properties or External Data Properties. In the dialog box, uncheck the option for "Adjust column width." Now, your formatting will stay locked in place after a refresh.

Refreshing Data Held in a PivotTable

It's important to remember that PivotTables based on external data or even just a data range in another sheet don't update on their own. They must be refreshed as well.

If your pivot table is connected to an external source, using Data > Refresh All will update it. If your PivotTable is based on a range within the same workbook, you'll need to refresh it separately after you update the source range.

The easiest way is to just right-click anywhere inside the PivotTable and select Refresh. You can also automate this by going into the PivotTable Options > Data tab and selecting "Refresh data when opening the file," which is a separate setting specific to that PivotTable.

Final Thoughts

Mastering the data refresh options in Excel is a fundamental step toward building automated, reliable, and error-free reports. Whether you’re manually refreshing a single table or scheduling workbook-wide updates, you can transform Excel from a static spreadsheet tool into a dynamic dashboard for your business metrics.

While Excel is powerful, the cycle of connecting to data sources, managing those connections, and building reports still depends on manual setup for each new dashboard you want to create. For sales and marketing teams juggling data across a dozen platforms, this process can feel like a full-time job. With Graphed, we’ve completely streamlined this. Instead of fighting with file paths and connection properties, you connect your tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Shopify once. From there, you can create real-time, zero-maintenance dashboards just by describing what you want to see in plain English. Your data is always live, so there’s never even a "Refresh" button to think about.