Add Links in Excel

Microsoft's Excel is a full-featured spreadsheet application that allows users to organize, maintain and analyze various types of data. You can add links to websites, other documents, or even other cells and sheets within the same spreadsheet if the data in your spreadsheet needs to refer to other sources for backup, support, or further information.

Steps

Inserting a Link to a Location in the Spreadsheet

  1. Select the cell that you want to create your link in. You can create a shortcut link in any cell in your spreadsheet.
  2. Click the "Insert" tab and then click "Hyperlink." This will open a new window to create a link.
  3. Click the "Place in This Document" option in the left menu. This will allow you to link to any cell in your spreadsheet.
  4. Enter the cell that you want to link to. There are a few ways to do this:
    • To type a cell location, select the sheet it's on from the "Cell Reference" list. You can then type the specific cell, such as "C23" into the "Type the cell reference" field.
    • You can select from cells or ranges that have been defined in the "Defined Names" list. If you select one of these, you won't be able to type a location.
  5. Change the text that is displayed (optional). By default, the link's text will simply be the cell that you are linking to. You can change this by typing anything you'd like into the "Text to display" field.[1]
    • You can click the "ScreenTip" button to change the text that appears when a user hovers their mouse cursor over the link.

Inserting a Link to a Webpage

  1. Copy the address to the site you want to link to. You can link to any website by simply copying the address to the site. You can copy it from your browser's address bar. If you want to copy the address from a link on a website, right-click the link and select "Copy address" (the wording will vary depending on your browser).
  2. Select the cell in your Excel spreadsheet that you want to insert the link into. You can insert the link into any cell in your spreadsheet.
  3. Click the "Insert" tab and click the "Hyperlink" button. This will open a new window that will allow you to insert various types of links.
  4. Select "Existing File or Web Page" on the left side of the window. This will display a file browser.
    • If you're using Excel 2011, select "Web Page."
  5. Paste the link to the website into the "Address" field. You can find this at the bottom of the window.
    • If you're using Excel 2011, paste the link into the "Link to" field at the top of the window.
  6. Change the text of the link (optional). By default, the link will display the full address. You can change this to anything you'd like such as "Company Website." Click the "Text to display" field and then type in what you want the link text to be.
    • If you're using Excel 2011, this is the "Display" field.
    • Click the "ScreenTip" button to change the text that appears when the user places their cursor over the link.
  7. Click "OK" to create the link. Your link will appear in the cell you selected earlier. You can test it by clicking it, or make edits by clicking and holding the link, then clicking the "Hyperlink" button again.

Inserting a Link to Send an Email

  1. Click the cell you want to insert the link into. You can insert a mail link into any cell in your spreadsheet. Click a cell to highlight it.
  2. Click the "Insert" tab. This will display the various items you can insert into your spreadsheet.
  3. Click the "Hyperlink" button. This will open a new window, allowing you to insert various types of links.
  4. Enter the email address you want to link to into the "E-mail address" field. You'll see the "Text to display" field fill automatically as you add the address. "mailto:" will be added to the beginning of the address automatically.
    • If you've entered addresses before, you'll be able to select them from the list at the bottom of the window.
  5. Enter a premade subject into the "Subject" field (optional). You can leave the link as is if you'd like, but you can set a premade subject if you want to make things easier on your users.
  6. Change the link text that will be displayed (optional). By default, the link will display "mailto:address@example.com" but you can change this to whatever you'd like, such as "Contact Us." Click the "Text to display" field and change the text to what you want.
    • Click the "ScreenTip" button to change the text that appears when the user hovers the mouse cursor over the link.
  7. Click "OK" to insert your link. Your new email link will be created, and clicking it will open your email client or website with a new message addressed to the address you entered.

Inserting a Link to a Location on Your Computer or Server

  1. Highlight the cell you want to insert the link into. You can insert a link to a document or location on your computer or server into any cell in your spreadsheet.
  2. Click the "Insert" tab and then click "Hyperlink." This will open a new window that allows you to create a link in your spreadsheet.
  3. Select "Existing file or webpage" from the left menu. This option allows you to link to any location or document on your computer (or server).
    • In Excel 2011 for OS X, click "Document" and then click "Select" to browse for a file on your computer.
  4. Use the browser to select a folder or file to link to. The quickest way to link to a specific file or folder is to use the file browser to navigate to the one you want. You can link to a folder so that the folder opens when clicked, or select a specific file for the link to open.
    • You can switch between views to see recent files, as well as change the folder you're currently looking at.
  5. Type or paste an address for the file or folder. You can enter the address for the file or folder instead of navigating to it with the browser. This can be especially useful for entering locations on another server.
    • To find the actual address for a local file or folder, open your Explorer window and navigate to the folder. Click the folder path at the top of the Explorer window to reveal the address, which you can then copy and paste.
    • To link to a location on a server, paste the address for the folder or location that will be accessible to the reader.
  6. Change the text that is displayed (optional). By default, the link will display the full address to the linked file or folder. You can change this by changing the text in the "Text to display" field.
  7. Click "OK" to create the link. You'll see your link appear in the cell you had selected. Clicking it will open the file or folder that you specified.
    • Users of your spreadsheet will need to have access to the linked file from the same file location as used in your link. It may be more helpful to embed the file rather than linking to it if you will be sending the file to another user.



Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-select-edit-or-delete-a-hyperlink-472fce40-c5f0-427e-90d4-12c0366bc06f
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