How can I combine multiple excel files into a single master file and have a button that can select the file that I want? The button will have many levels as the files are categorised

Question

How can I combine multiple excel files into a single master file and have a button that can select the file that I want? The button will have many levels as the files are categorised

Hyperlite31 0

I have several excel files stored into a shared drive and each time my employee has to squint and select the correct file. These files are sorted in many folders.

I wish to consolidate all the files into 1 master excel file and have several buttons that he can click and ultimately pull up the correct file that he wants to print.

TIA

0 comments

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Molapo Ts'iame 0

I think, the best thing to do is to use Excel's built-in Power Query and Slicers. It creates clean navigation buttons without breaking a sweat.

Here is the quick setup:

• Merge everything: Go to Data > Get Data > From File > From Folder. Point it at your main shared drive folder and hit Combine & Transform. Excel will automatically dig through all the subfolders and pull the data into one master sheet.

• Make the buttons: Click anywhere inside your new master table, head up to the Table Design tab, and click Insert Slicer.

• Set the levels: Check the boxes for Folder Path and File Name. This drops clickable buttons right onto your sheet. Your employee can click a folder level, see the filtered files, and print immediately.

Hyperlite31 0 Reputation points

2026-10-16T07:02:30.6366667+00:00
Thank you for your prompt reply but I need to elaborate further:

When I open the file, it'll have a button for me to select, either option 1 or option 2.

After selecting option 1, there will be another button to further select another option and this will go on until my guys select the file which they need to print out.

It's a master file whereby at the end, it'll point to s specific excel file which would need to be printed out.

It may involve macros? I'm a total noob at this.

Answer 2

When it comes to selecting a specific file for printing, importing the data is, in my view, not a viable option.

"Print a file" can mean many things; a single file may contain multiple sheets, each with its own individual print settings. We can not import the layout (column widths, font sizes, colors, etc. from all the cells) and the print settings from a file.

One possibility would be a type of file manager, an Excel file that provides a list of all files across all folders, which could then be sorted by date or other criteria. We could include a link that an employee could click to open the corresponding file.

Andreas.