Once you add a link to Excel, clicking on it will automatically open the Hyperlink. However, under certain circumstances, hyperlinks might not work as expected in Excel. There are many reasons for this including but not limited to Excel auto-updating links, incorrect URLs or paths, Excel security settings, corrupted sheets, etc.
Whatever the reason, if links are not working in Excel, follow the suggestions given below to make those hyperlinks work as intended.
Fix hyperlinks not working in Excel
When you cannot click on a link in Excel or if they are not working as intended, follow the suggestions given below:
- Check the URLs and paths
- Disable the auto-update links feature
- Turn off link auto-formatting
- Repair the Excel worksheet
Let’s see each step in detail:
1. Check the URLs and paths
More often than not, the problem doesn’t lie with Excel; it’s usually the link or path itself. So, the first and foremost thing you should do is check if the link is correct. For example, you might have omitted a period or forward/backward slash. For web links, ensure they start with “http://” or “https://”. Missing or incorrect protocols can stop links from working as intended. If you are linking to local files, directories, or drives, ensure that the added path is an absolute path (c:\file.txt) instead of a relative path (.\file.txt). Additionally, ensure the file or directory exists.
2. Disable the auto-update links feature
Excel has a neat feature that automatically updates the links in a workbook. While this feature is mainly intended to work when linking sources such as other Excel workbooks, Microsoft Access, etc., it might work in unintended ways and stop links from working. If your Excel hyperlinks not working, consider disabling this feature.
Step 1: Open the Excel application.
Step 2: Click on the File option at the top.
Step 3: Press the Options button on the sidebar.
Step 4: Select the Advanced tab on the sidebar of the Options window.
Step 5: Scroll down in the Advanced tab and click on the Web options button.
Step 6: Go to the Files tab.
Step 7: Uncheck the “Update links on save” checkbox.
Step 8: Press the OK button.
Step 9: Close the relaunch the Excel workbook.
3. Turn off link auto-formatting
The link auto-formatting feature can sometimes be a little too helpful and corrupt the links you paste or type and stop them from working. As such, you should turn off link-auto formatting when you have a problem with links in Excel.
Step 1: Launch the Excel application.
Step 2: Click on the File option and press the Options button on the sidebar.
Step 3: Select the Proofing tab on the sidebar.
Step 4: Click on the AutoCorrect Options button on the right pane.
Step 5: Go to the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
Step 6: Uncheck the “Internet and network paths with hyperlinks” checkbox.
Step 7: Press the OK button.
Step 8: Close the relaunch the Excel workbook.
4. Repair the Excel worksheet
When all else fails then the issue might be with the Excel file itself. i.e., it might corrupted in some way. In that case, repairing the Excel file will help you solve the problem and the links should start working again. Here’s how to repair an Excel file.
Step 1: Press the Start key.
Step 2: Search and open Excel from the Start menu.
Step 3: Click File in the Excel window.
Step 4: Go to the Open tab and click the Browse button.
Step 5: Navigate the directories and select the Excel file.
Step 6: Select the Open and Repair option from the dropdown menu.
As soon as you select the Open and Repair option, Excel will repair the workbook and opens it normally. This should fix the problem and all links will work again. Just click on a link and it will open.
I hope this tutorial helped you in fixing the hyperlinks not working problem on Excel.
If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.
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