MS-Excel / Excel 2003

Synchronizing List Data

After you've published a list that you've linked to your SharePoint site, it's easy to update the changes that you make to the list in the original worksheet in Excel to the copy of the list on the Web site. All you have to do is choose Data → List → Synchronize List. Excel then connects to the SharePoint site and updates the list published there with all the changes that you've made. That's all there is to it.

To verify your updates in the list on the SharePoint site, choose Data → List → View List on Server, or click the List button on the List toolbar and then choose View List on Server on its pop-up menu. If the list is already open in Internet Explorer at the time you make the updates to the original list in Excel, switch to the Internet Explorer window and click the Refresh Data button in the list's toolbar on the Web page in order to see the modifications in the list.

If, when updating the data to the list on the Web site, Excel encounters a conflict in which one of the entries you've changed in the worksheet in Excel has also been changed by a team member on the SharePoint site, a Resolve Conflicts and Errors dialog box appears when you synchronize the lists.

This dialog box highlights the conflict between your change and another team member's change and gives you the opportunity to decide which changes to use:

To use your change and override the other team member's change, click the Retry My Changes button.

  • To go with the other team member's change instead of yours, click the Discard My Changes button.
  • If you want to leave the other team member's change on the list on the Web site and keep your changes in the local worksheet, click the Cancel button.
  • If you need to sever the tie between the local and Web version of the list, click the Unlink My List button. Just be aware that if you select this option (which you can also do by choosing Data → List → Unlink List), you can no longer have Excel automatically update your changes to the list in the local worksheet on the SharePoint site.

To remove a list that you've unlinked from the SharePoint site, go to its Web page on the site, click the Modify Settings and Columns link in the task pane on the left, and then click the Delete This List link on the Customize page for the list.

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