Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. 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: Inserting Hyperlinks.

Inserting Hyperlinks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 27, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021

2

One of the features built into Excel is support for the Internet. One aspect of this is the ability to add hyperlinks to your Excel workbooks. When you insert a hyperlink, there are two types you can use. You can insert either an absolute or a relative hyperlink. To insert a hyperlink:

  1. Select the cell in which you want the hyperlink inserted.
  2. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  3. Click on the Hyperlink tool in the Links group. Excel displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box.

  4. The content of the cell you selected in step 1 shows up in the Text to Display box. You can change it if you want.
  5. In the Address box specify the address for the page that will be loaded when the user clicks on your hyperlink. Typically this is a URL, but it can also be a file or resource on your system. You can also select an address from the drop-down list or use one of the Browse buttons (just to the right of the Look In drop-down list) to help locate the resource.
  6. When completed, click on OK.

Excel also provides a shortcut for getting to the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. After step 1, above, you could just press Ctrl+K to display the dialog box. You can then proceed with step 4.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8238) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Inserting Hyperlinks.

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

Using Parallel Columns

Users of WordPerfect know what parallel columns are. There is no such capability in Word, but there are ways you can ...

Discover More

Word Won't Maximize

Sometimes, for whatever reason, your computer might not display Word or other programs properly. There are a few things ...

Discover More

Cannot Add Words to Dictionary

We all run across words that are spelled correctly, but that Word isn't aware of. The solution is to add those words to ...

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)

Easily Changing Links

If you have linked information in your worksheets, you may want a way you can easily change the targets to which those ...

Discover More

Tying a Hyperlink to a Specific Cell

Make a hyperlink to a cell in your workbook, edit the structure of that workbook a bit, and you may find that the ...

Discover More

Updating Links in Copied Files

When you copy workbooks that contain links, you may be at a loss as to how to update those links. There are a couple of ...

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.

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

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 less than 3?

2024-01-30 09:49:44

J. Woolley

@linda
I'm using Chrome and Excel 365 with Ctrl+K to create the hyperlink; it works fine for me.
Try entering the URL as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
or https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/.../edit?usp=drive_link

2024-01-29 11:25:39

linda

Why is it that when I create a hyperlink in Excel 2013 to a Google Sheet or Youtube video, it doesn't follow the link, but instead displays a page telling me that my browser is up to date (thank you very much, but I want to see the video)?
(see Figure 1 below)

Figure 1. 

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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2024 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.