With an Excel Hyperlink you can link another file or website to your Excel file, so you don’t have to search for it again and again. Or if the Excel file or Word document is too large, you can make a link inside the file, so you can jump from one point to another with a single click.
It’s simplier than you think, and it works in Excel, Word, Outlook and even on the Internet (for example, online email or web site editors) and it even has a hotkey!
Insert an Excel hyperlink
The name of the “link” in Office programs is “hyperlink”. To insert a link:
- First, select the part you want to assign the hyperlink to. This can be an Excel cell, any length of text, or even a shape (eg image or button).
- Use Ctrl K (on Mac: Cmd K) shortcut to locate the link. If you are searching for the icon on the Ribbon: Insert tab / Hyperlink button.
- Fill out the fields.
4 main types of Excel Hyperlink
On the left you can choose from 4 options:
- An existing file or web page
- The specific point of a document, eg. a specific cell or named range in an Excel worksheet or file
- New document
- Email Address: By clicking this button, you automatically open an email with this address in your email.
Excel Hyperlink function
In Excel, there is a function called HYPERLINK. You can use this to make texts as clickable links. The function has 2 parts: HYPERLINK(link_location, [friendly_name])
- Link_location: The hyperlink itself, the path and file name to the document or webpage you want to open. Link_location can be a referred from a cell, or it can be a text string enclosed in quotation marks.
- Friendly_name: It is the text that appears as a link. It’s optional, in case of missing, the link itself will appear. Friendly_name will be displayed in blue and is underlined.
For example: =HYPERLINK(A2; “link”)
You can specify text, cell references, and more complex formulas in both parts, for example, you can paste text from different cells.
For example: =HYPERLINK(A2; B2 & ” company contract”)
Use Excel hyperlinks, and make your own life and your colleagues’ lives easier, as you don’t have to spend hours with searching.
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