How to Hyperlink in Word (Insert, Edit or Remove Links)

Add, Edit or Remove Links or Hyperlinks in Word Documents

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated October 14, 2022

Applies to: Microsoft ® Word ® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 365 (Windows)

You can easily add links or hyperlinks in Microsoft Word documents to add interactivity and make it easy for users to click a link to jump to another location in your document, to another file or web page or even to an email. You can also edit hyperlinks and remove individual hyperlinks or all hyperlinks.

Hyperlinks are often used to:

Hyperlinks can be displayed as full source URLs or internet addresses such as http://abccompany.ca, as descriptive text, as an image or as a drawing object.

Text as a hyperlink appears underlined and in a color (normally blue) and coordinates with the color theme in your document. In Word, the text color changes automatically after you Ctrl – click hyperlink text. Hyperlink objects do not change color.

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Insert a hyperlink automatically

You can insert hyperlinks to web sites by typing the address of an existing web page (such as https://abccompany.com) and then pressing Enter or Spacebar. Word will automatically convert the text to a hyperlink using AutoCorrect.

Insert a hyperlink to an existing web page

To insert a hyperlink to an existing file or web page:

  1. Click where you want to insert a hyperlink or select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink.
  2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
  3. In the Links group, click Link or Hyperlink. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box appears.
  4. Under Link to, select Existing File or Web Page.
  5. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display field.
  6. In the Address field, enter or choose the address or location where the link should lead. For external references, enter or copy the URL in the Address field.
  7. Click OK.

You can also press Ctrl + K to insert or edit a hyperlink.

Below is the Hyperlink dialog box:

Hyperlink dialog box in Microsoft Word to insert or remove link to existing web page or file.

Insert a hyperlink to an existing file

To insert a hyperlink to an existing file:

  1. Click where you want to insert a hyperlink or select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink.
  2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
  3. In the Links group, click Link or Hyperlink. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box appears.
  4. Under Link to, select Existing File or Web Page.
  5. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display field.
  6. In the Look in field, click the down arrow and select the desired location. Navigate to the appropriate drive and folder and then double-click the file.
  7. Click OK.

Use relative or absolute hyperlink addresses to external files

If you are creating hyperlinks to external files, it's important to understand the difference between a relative and absolute address. A relative hyperlink uses the address relative to the address of the containing document whereas an absolute hyperlink uses the full address of the destination document including the drive location.

The following example uses an absolute hyperlink address (full path address):

C:\Documents\January\Budget.docx

The following relative hyperlink contains only the relative address or path to a Budget document.

January\Budget.docx

You may want to use a relative hyperlink address or path if you want to move or to copy your files to another location such as another server.

Create a hyperlink using the context menu

Another method of creating or editing hyperlinks is to right-click and use the context menu (you can also press Shift + F10 to display the context menu).

To insert a hyperlink using the context menu:

  1. Click where you want to insert a hyperlink or select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink.
  2. Right-click and choose Link or Hyperlink from the menu. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box appears.
  3. Select the appropriate button under Link to. If you are creating an external link to a webpage or another document, select Existing File or Web Page. If you are creating an internal link within the document, select Place in This Document.
  4. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display field.
  5. In the address field, enter or choose the address or location where the link should lead. For external references, enter or copy the URL in the Address field. For place in the same document, select the appropriate item.
  6. Click OK.

Insert a hyperlink to a location in the same document

To create a hyperlink to a bookmarked location in the same Word document:

  1. Select the location, text, image or shape that you want to use as the destination for the hyperlink.
  2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon and in the Links group, click Bookmark. A dialog box appears.
  3. In the Bookmark name box, type a unique name for the bookmark and then click Add. You may not use spaces in the name of a bookmark.
  4. Click where you wish to insert a hyperlink or select the text, shape or image you wish to use as a hyperlink.
  5. Right-click and choose Link or Hyperlink from the menu. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box appears.
  6. Under Link to, select Place in This Document.
  7. Select the bookmark that you want to use as the destination hyperlink. Microsoft Word has a default bookmark to jump to the top of the document.
  8. Click OK.

Below is the Bookmark dialog box in Microsoft Word:

Bookmark dialog box in Microsoft Word to insert hyperlink in the current document.

To create a hyperlink to a built-in heading style in the same document:

  1. Click where you want to insert a hyperlink or select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink.
  2. Right-click and choose Link or Hyperlink from the menu. The Insert Hyperlink dialog appears.
  3. Under Link to, select Place in This Document.
  4. Select the heading that you want to use as the destination hyperlink. You must have applied built-in heading styles such as Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. in your document (normally through the Styles gallery in the Home tab in the Ribbon).
  5. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display field.
  6. Click OK.

In the following example, note both the headings and bookmarks that appear in the Hyperlink dialog box in a Word file that uses the built-in heading styles:

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If you create a table of contents in Word using built-in heading styles, it normally contains hyperlinks to headings in the document. For more information, check out this article on Creating a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word.

Edit a hyperlink

To edit a hyperlink:

  1. Right-click the hyperlink.
  2. In the context menu, select Edit Hyperlink or Edit Link. The Edit Hyperlink dialog box appears.
  3. Select the desired options.
  4. Click OK.

You can also select a hyperlink and press Ctrl + K to edit it.

Add screen tips

You can include screen tip text that appears when you hover your cursor over a hyperlink.

To add screen tip text:

  1. Place your cursor over the hyperlink to which you want to add a screen tip.
  2. Right-click and select Edit Hyperlink or Edit Link from the drop-down menu. The Edit Hyperlink dialog appears.
  3. Click ScreenTip on the top right.
  4. Type your text in the ScreenTip text box.
  5. Click OK twice.

Below is the Hyperlink ScreenTip dialog box:

Screen tip dialog box in Microsoft Word for hyperlinks.

Jump to a hyperlink

Hyperlinks become active when you save your document as a PDF (portable document format) or web page (HTML) file and users will be able to simply click them. However, in Microsoft Word, to jump to a hyperlink, you will need to point to the hyperlink then Ctrl-click the link.

Remove a single hyperlink

To remove a hyperlink:

  1. Right-click the hyperlink you want to remove.
  2. In the context menu, select Remove Hyperlink or Remove Link.

Removing all hyperlinks

To remove all hyperlinks:

  1. Press Ctrl + A to select all.
  2. Press Ctrl + Shift + F9. All hyperlinks (and other fields) will be converted to text.

Hyperlinks can add a new dimension of interactivity to your Microsoft Word documents and when the files are saved in other formats such as PDF, they become active hyperlinks.

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