Excel adds file:/// automatically to every server link which breaks the link updating automatically

Edit: I tried unchecking the box for excel to update links upon save with no help. Also, I just tried manually removing the file:/// from a cell link and hit Enter to go down to the next cell and excel put the file:/// back into the cell just by clicking out of that cell….

I need help. I have a summary file at work that I’m linking values to various other excel workbooks on our server, so that as I update values in the source files, it will automatically flow over to the summary file. I link everything and hit save but then for some reason, I open it back up and the address in every cell now has “file:///“ in front of it. I noticed that the values have not changed in the cells with updates that I made so I hit Ctrl+[ to open the link and it says that I can’t find the file. So excel basically makes the links break every time I reopen the file.

In summary, I have no idea why excel keeps adding this to a link every time I save and reopen the file. I cannot keep manually updating the links every time I reopen the file, only to have it revert back to not updating and adding “file:///“ when I reopen it every day. I have limited access for changing things if it’s a server problem due to our company IT restricting our ability to change anything without Admin access.