Insert Hyperlinks in Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel allows you to insert hyperlinks, jumps between file locations, into its spreadsheet cells. You can create a file at the time you create the hyperlink or link to an existing file or Web page. You can also create hyperlinks that jump to various locations within the same spreadsheet or to another Excel spreadsheet. In addition, you can edit or delete hyperlinks after creating them. The following steps tell how to do these things for Excel 2003, 2007, and 2010.

Steps

Hyperlinking to a New File

1. Right-click the cell you want to place the hyperlink in. The cell may be empty or contain text or a graphic image. Right-clicking the cell displays a popup menu.
2. Select "Hyperlink" from the popup menu. This displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.
   • If the cell where your hyperlink will be placed was empty and you want to display a text hyperlink, enter it in the "Text to display:" field.
3. Select "Create New Document" from the "Link to:" options in the left pane.
4. Give the file a name. Type the name for the file to be created in the "Name of new document" field.
5. Decide whether to accept the location displayed for your new file to be placed in or change it. The file location will be displayed under "Full path:"; if this location is where you want the file to be created in, do nothing. If you want the file to be placed in a different location, click "Change" and browse for a new location in the Create New Document dialog box. Click "OK" once you have selected the desired location to close the dialog.
6. Decide whether you want to edit the new document now or later. Choose one of the options under "When to edit:"
7. Assign a screen tip to the hyperlink if desired. If you want to display a ScreenTip when you rest your mouse cursor on the hyperlink, click "ScreenTip�" and enter the text in the "ScreenTip text:" field of the Set Hyperlink ScreenTip dialog box, then click "OK."

Hyperlinking to an Existing File or Web Page

1. Right-click the cell you want to place the hyperlink in. This displays a popup menu.
2. Select "Hyperlink" from the popup menu. This displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.
3. Select "Existing File or Web Page" from the "Link to:" options in the left pane.
4. Select a file or Web page to link to. What you do next depends on whether you want to hyperlink to a file or to a Web page and where that file or Web page is located.
   • If the file you want to link to is in the current folder (the same main folder as the Excel spreadsheet you're linking it to), select "Current Folder" from the options under "Look in:" and select the file.
   • If the file you want to link to is a file you have recently used, select "Recent Files." A list of the URLs to the files you have used most recently is displayed; select the URL of the file you want.
   • If the Web page you want to link to is one you have browsed previously, select "Browsed Pages." Then select the URL of the page you want to link to. If you do not see the URL for the Web page you want to link to in the list, click the "Browse the Web" button above the list to open your browser and look for it; when you find it, switch back to Excel, but do not close your browser.
   • If you want to link to a specific location on a Web page, follow the same procedure as above, but make sure first that the location has a bookmark on it. To make the link to the bookmark, click the "Bookmark" button, then double-click the bookmark from the displayed list.
   • If you know the URL of the file or Web page you want to link to, you can type it in the Address field. (You can also cut and paste a Web page URL from the address field of your browser if it is currently displaying that page.)
5. Assign a screen tip to the hyperlink if desired. If you want to display a ScreenTip when you rest your mouse cursor on the hyperlink, click "ScreenTip�" and enter the text in the "ScreenTip text:" field of the Set Hyperlink ScreenTip dialog box, then click "OK."

Hyperlinking Within and Between Spreadsheets

1. Open the destination spreadsheet, if different from the spreadsheet you are inserting a hyperlink in.
2. Select the cell or cells you want to link to. If the destination is a single cell, you can use the cell reference. If the destination is a range of cells, you may wish to give that range a meaningful name. To do so, perform the following steps:
   • Select the cell(s) you want to name: a single cell, a range, or non-adjacent selections.
   • Click the "Name" field to the left of the formula bar and above the rows and columns of the spreadsheet. (This field will not be available while you are changing the contents of any of the cells you wish to name.)
   • Type the name for your cell(s) and press "Enter" on your keyboard.
3. Open the spreadsheet you want to place the hyperlink in, if different from the spreadsheet you are linking to.
4. Right-click the cell you want to place the hyperlink in.
5. Select "Hyperlink" from the popup menu. This displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.
6. Choose the destination for the hyperlink.
   • If the link is to a location in the same spreadsheet, select "Place in This Document" in the "Link to:" options pane. Either select one of the sheet names listed under "Cell Reference" and type a cell reference in the field provided, or select a name under "Defined Names." Click "OK."
   • If the link is to a location in a different spreadsheet, select "Existing File or Web Page" in the "Link to:" options pane. Navigate to the spreadsheet you wish to link to, then click "Bookmark."
7. Assign a screen tip to the hyperlink if desired.

Creating an Email Address Hyperlink

1. Right-click the cell you want to place the hyperlink in.
2. Select "Hyperlink" from the popup menu. This displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.
3. Select "E-mail Address" from the "Link to:" options.
4. Enter the email address and subject line in the corresponding fields. Not all browsers or email programs will recognize the subject line, however.
5. Assign a screen tip to the hyperlink if desired.
   • You can also create an email address hyperlink by typing the email address in the cell.

Editing a Hyperlink

1. Right-click the hyperlink you want to edit. This displays a popup menu.
2. Select "Edit Hyperlink" from the popup menu. This displays the Edit Hyperlink dialog box, which has the same fields and layout as the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.
3. Make your changes in the appropriate fields of the Edit Hyperlink dialog. Click "OK" when finished.

Deleting a Hyperlink

1. Right-click the cell with the hyperlink you wish to delete. This displays a popup menu.
2. Disable or remove the hyperlink. Choose the appropriate option from the popup menu:
   • To remove the hyperlink and its text from the cell, select "Clear Contents."
   • To remove the hyperlink but leave the text, select "Remove Hyperlink."

Tips

• You can also insert hyperlinks by using the HYPERLINK function, in the form "=HYPERLINK(link_location, name)," where "link_location" represents the path or URL to the file or Web page that is to be linked to, entered in quotes, or a reference to the cell that contains that information, and "name" represents the hyperlink text, entered in quotes, a constant, or a reference to the cell containing the actual hyperlink text.

Warnings

• If you move a file connected to an Excel spreadsheet by hyperlink to a new location, you will have to edit the hyperlink to include the new file location.

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Sources and Citations

• http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/create-select-edit-or-delete-a-hyperlink-HP010096304.aspx
• Rodney Ruff, Omaha, NE; Microsoft Excel user

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