Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Extracting URLs from Hyperlinked Images.

Extracting URLs from Hyperlinked Images

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 23, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


One way you can use data from the Internet in an Excel worksheet is to copy it from a Web page and then paste it into the worksheet. For instance, you can select a table of data on a Web page, press Ctrl+C to copy it to the Clipboard, select a cell in Excel, and then press Ctrl+V. Excel does its best to parse the data and put it in the proper cells, just like it was in the original table.

The problem is that you'll often get more than just the table data. If there were other objects in the data you copied from the Web, those objects will be pasted into the worksheet, as well. It is not uncommon to end up with all sorts of small graphics in the worksheet. If these graphics were originally hyperlinks, you may want to actually extract the hyperlink and then delete the graphic. This would make the data in the worksheet much more usable.

The way to do this is with a macro. Once you've pasted the Web information into the worksheet, run the following macro.

Sub ConvertHLShapes()
    Dim shp As Shape
    Dim sTemp As String

    For Each shp In ActiveSheet.Shapes
        sTemp = ""
        On Error Resume Next 'go to next shape if no hyperlink
        sTemp = shp.Hyperlink.Address
        On Error GoTo 0
        If sTemp <> "" Then
            shp.TopLeftCell.Value = sTemp
            shp.Delete
        End If
    Next
End Sub

This macro steps through each of the shapes in the worksheet. It then checks to see if the shape has an associated hyperlink. If it does, then the address of that hyperlink (in the sTemp variable) is placed into the cell at the top-left corner of where the shape is located. The macro deletes any shapes that have hyperlinks; you can force it to delete all shapes in the worksheet by simply moving the shp.Delete line to the outside of the If ... End If structure.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3578) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Extracting URLs from Hyperlinked Images.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Dealing with Circular References

Circular references occur when a formula includes a reference to the cell in which the formula appears. Here's how you ...

Discover More

Adding Column Headings to a Table of Contents

Word makes it easy to create a Table of Contents. If you want column headings in that table, getting them takes a bit of ...

Discover More

Stopping Word from Changing Characters in an E-mail Address

When you type an e-mail address, Word generally recognizes it as such. What do you do, though, if Word changes the e-mail ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Adding a ScreenTip

If you want people to know something about a hyperlink you added to your worksheet, one way to help them is to use ...

Discover More

Hyperlinks in Comments

Need to add a hyperlink to a comment or note? It's easy to do by following the steps outlined in this tip.

Discover More

Getting Rid of All Hyperlinks

Need to get rid of all the hyperlinks in a worksheet? It's easy when you use this single-line macro.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two minus 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.