Hyperlinks, discussed in Chapter 30, are an alternative way to connect an Excel document to an external file. If you want your Excel document to reference supplementary information without making that information obtrusive, you can do it neatly with a hyperlink.

Which method you prefer is likely to be a matter of taste. Most people looking at your Excel document will find a hyperlink self-explanatory, but some might not know immediately how to use an OLE link. On the other hand, an iconic OLE link might more easily grab a viewer’s attention. OLE links are also self-repairing—in some cases, at least. (If you rename or move a target of an OLE link, Windows can sometimes update the link information so that Excel still finds the linked file.) Hyperlinks are not self-repairing. If you think the target of a link might get renamed or moved, it’s safer to use an OLE link.