This is a complete guide to hyperlinking in Word.
In today’s guide you’ll learn how to perform the following tasks in Microsoft Word:
- How to insert Hyperlinks in Word.
- How to edit/Remove hyperlinks
- How to create a hyperlink in Word in the same document
- How to create a hyperlink in Word to a different document
But first of all, let’s learn what a hyperlink really is.
What are Hyperlinks in Word?
Hyperlinks are links that, when you click on them, takes you to a piece of new information, in another document or location.
Most Microsoft Word users never consider adding links to their documents, because they consider them as printed documents. However, if some readers may read your work onscreen, you should consider adding links.
In this article, I’ll teach you how to insert links into your Word document plus some other tricks concerning hyperlinking in Word.
How to manually insert a hyperlink in Word
Some Microsoft Word features automatically insert links by default. One good example is the automatic table of content. Another one is the AutoCorrect which converts website addresses into links as explained in the next chapter.
In this section, I’ll show you how to insert your own hyperlinks in Word. This way, you get more flexibility as it enables you to control how the hyperlink looks and behaves.
Obey the steps below to manually insert a common link into your Word document:
- Place the insertion pointer at where you want to insert the link.
NOTE: If you want to hide the link behind a text or image, select the text or image before performing the steps below. After inserting the link, the link text will be colored blue and underlined showing that it is a link.
- Press Ctrl+K Or Right-Click on the text and select Hyperlink or Link.
The insert link dialog will appear as seen in the screenshot below:
- Click to select “Existing File or Web Page” from the list of “Link To” buttons.
Bonus Step: Click Browsed Pages to see the list of pages you’ve recently visited. If the page you want to insert is found, then click to select it. Otherwise, you must type or copy and paste the address in the Address: text box.
- Type the website address in the Address: text box.
- Click OK to insert the link into your Word document.
As soon as you hit the OK button, the link will be inserted. The link is inserted if the link text changes to blue and underlined.
To make hyperlinks clickable in Word, or to be able to click hyperlinks in Word, press down the Ctrl key before you click on the link. If you don’t press Ctrl before clicking, Word will not follow the link
Word gives different formatting to hyperlinks to make it look different from the other text. For instance, most of the time, hyperlinks in Word are underlined and also has a blue color.
How to automatically insert a hyperlink in Word
If you are linking to somewhere on the web, using Microsoft’s AutoCorrect feature, you can automatically insert hyperlinks into your Word document.
To to do that, simply type a website address such as www.softwareaccountant.com, then press the spacebar key. Word will automatically convert the web address into a hyperlink. It also adds the HTTP:// protocol to the beginning of the URL, although that part is not visible.
Thus, when someone (Ctrl+clicks) the web address, Word will direct him or her to the website if there’s an internet connection.
This same trick works with email addresses too.
If you type an email address into your Word document, such as name@gmail.com, Word will automatically convert it into a hyperlink. And when you Ctrl+Click on this Email link, a default email program gets opened.
How to edit a hyperlink in word
You can also edit hyperlinks in word by obeying the instructions below:
If you want to change the link text without really changing the hyperlink itself, directly editing the text will do the job.
However, if you want to edit the hyperlink, follow the steps below:
- Right-Click on the Link
- Select “Edit Hyperlink” from the shortcut menu.
- In the “Edit Hyperlink” dialog, replace the old address in the “Address:” text box with the new address.
- Click OK to apply the changes.
As soon as you hit the OK button, the hyperlink will be updated. Confirm the change by placing your mouse pointer on the link to see the link that displays on the tooltip.
How to Remove a hyperlink in word
To remove hyperlinks in Word, obey the instructions below:
- Right-click on the link
- Click on “Remove Hyperlink” from the shortcut menu
As soon as you hit the “Remove Hyperlink” button, the link will be removed completely from the text.
The link is removed when the text changed to its normal formatting (with no more blue and underlined text).
How to create a hyperlink to another location in the same document
If your content refers to another section in the same document, you can add a link so that users can jump right to that particular location instead of scrolling all the way. This makes sense if you’re working with a long Word document.
To perform this task, obey the following steps:
- First, mark the spot you want the link to point to by bookmarking it.
To bookmark a spot in your document:
Place your cursor at where you want to insert the bookmark:
Go to the Insert tab, in the Links group, click on Bookmark.
In the Bookmark window, type the name of your bookmark in the “Bookmark name:” text box, then click on the Add button.
NOTE: The bookmark name must begin with a letter, but can include numbers. It must not also include space.
After successfully adding a bookmark with the above instructions, the remaining steps below will teach you how to link to the bookmarked location.
- Highlight the text for the link. This should be the text that the user will click to jump to a different location (Bookmarked location). Use text that gives readers clear information about where the link points to.
- Press Ctrl+K to display the Insert Link dialog. Or right-click on the selected text and then click Link from the shortcut menu.
- Click to select “Place in This Document” from the list of “Link To” buttons.
Word will display the list of all bookmarks and headings.
- Identify and select the Bookmark you want the link to point to.
- Click OK to apply the settings.
Word will now insert a link that points to a bookmarked location within the same document.
How to create a hyperlink in Word to a different document
In MS Word, you can add a link to other documents on your computer or network. This way, when a user clicks on the link, another document will open.
Below will show you all the steps to create a hyperlink to a different document.
- Select the text that will contain the link.
- Press Ctrl+K to display the Insert Link dialog.
- Click to select “Existing File or Web Page” from the list of “Link To” buttons.
- Locate the document you want to link to, then Click OK.
Word will successfully insert a link in your document that points to another document on the computer or network.
This is one of the best guides on can get on hyperlinking in Word.
If you have any more questions regarding this topic or related topics, please let me know in the comments section.
Thanks very much for reading this blog.