Buzz
Today, Mytour will guide you on how to create links to files, folders, websites, or new documents in Microsoft Excel. This process works for both Windows and Mac versions of Excel.
Steps
Link to a New File
Open the Excel document. Double-click the Excel file where you want to insert the hyperlink.
- You can also open a new document by double-clicking the Excel icon and selecting Blank Workbook.
Select the cell where you want to insert the hyperlink.
Click on Insert. This tab is located in the green ribbon at the top of the Excel window. Clicking Insert will display a toolbar just below the green ribbon.
- If you're using a Mac, ensure you don't confuse the Insert tab in Excel with the Insert option in the computer's menu bar.
Click on Hyperlink. This option is located on the right side of the Insert toolbar under the "Links" section. A new window will appear.
Click on Create New Document. This tab is located on the left side of the pop-up window.
Enter the text for the hyperlink. Type the text you want to display in the "Text to display" field.
- If you skip this step, the name of the new document will become the hyperlink text.
Enter a name for the new document in the "Name of new document" field.
Click the OK button at the bottom of the window. By default, this action will create and open a new spreadsheet document, then link it to the selected cell in your previous spreadsheet.
- You can also choose "Edit the new document later" before clicking OK to create the spreadsheet and link without opening the new document.
Link to an Existing File or Webpage
Open the Excel document. Double-click the Excel file where you want to insert the hyperlink.
- You can also open a new document by double-clicking the Excel icon and selecting Blank Workbook.
Select the cell where you want to insert the hyperlink.
Click on Insert. This tab is located in the green ribbon at the top of the Excel window. Clicking Insert will display a toolbar just below the green ribbon.
- If you're using a Mac, ensure you don't confuse the Insert tab in Excel with the Insert option in the computer's menu bar.
Click on Hyperlink. This option is located on the right side of the Insert toolbar under the "Links" section. A new window will appear.
Click on Existing File or Web Page. This option is located on the left side of the window.
Enter the text for the hyperlink. Type the text you want to display in the "Text to display" field.
- If you skip this step, the hyperlink text will default to the folder path of the linked content.
Select the destination. Click on one of the following tabs:
- Current Folder - Search for files in the Documents or Desktop folder.
- Browsed Pages - Search through recently viewed web pages.
- Recent Files - Search through recently opened Excel files.
Select the file or webpage. Click on the file, folder, or web address you want to link. The folder path will appear in the "Address" text box at the bottom of the window.
- You can also copy a URL from the internet and paste it into the "Address" text box.
Click the OK button at the bottom of the page. The hyperlink will be created in the specified cell.
- Note: If you move the linked content, the hyperlink will become invalid.
Link Within the Document
Open the Excel document. Double-click the Excel file where you want to insert the hyperlink.
- You can also open a new document by double-clicking the Excel icon and selecting Blank Workbook.
Select the cell where you want to insert the hyperlink.
Click on the Insert tab. This tab is located in the green ribbon at the top of the Excel window. When you click on Insert, a toolbar will appear directly below the green ribbon.
- If you are using a Mac, be careful not to confuse the Insert tab in Excel with the Insert menu item in the computer's menu bar.
Click on the Hyperlink option. This option is located on the right side of the Insert toolbar under the "Links" section. A new window will pop up.
Click on the Place in This Document option. This option is located on the left side of the window.
Enter the text for the hyperlink. Type the text you want to display into the "Text to display" field.
- If you skip this step, the hyperlink text will simply be the name of the target cell.
Click on the OK button. The link will be created in the selected cell. If you click on the hyperlink, Excel will automatically highlight the linked cell.
Create a hyperlink to an email address
Open the Excel document. Double-click on the Excel file where you want to insert the hyperlink.
- Alternatively, you can start a new document by double-clicking the Excel icon and selecting Blank Workbook.
Select the cell where you want to insert the hyperlink.
Click on the Insert tab. This tab is located in the green ribbon at the top of the Excel window. Clicking Insert will reveal a toolbar directly below the green ribbon.
- Mac users should ensure they don’t confuse the Insert tab in Excel with the Insert option in the computer’s menu bar.
Click on the Hyperlink option. This is located on the right side of the Insert toolbar under the "Links" section. A new window will appear.
Click on the E-mail Address option. This option is located on the left side of the window.
Enter the text for the hyperlink. Type the text you want to display in the "Text to display" field.
- If you skip this step, the email address will appear as the hyperlink text.
Enter the email address. Input the email address you want to link to in the "E-mail address" field.
- You can also add a predefined subject in the "Subject" field, which will prefill the subject in a new email when the hyperlink is clicked.
Click the OK button at the bottom of the window.
Tips
- You can also insert a hyperlink using the HYPERLINK feature: enter the formula =HYPERLINK(link_location, name) into the cell, where "link_location" is the file path, folder, or webpage, and "name" is the text displayed in the hyperlink.
Warning
- If the file linked to the Excel spreadsheet via a hyperlink is moved to a new location, you will need to update the hyperlink with the new path.
