Using Formulas to Create Hyperlinks

The HYPEREINK function creates a hyperlink in a worksheet cell, based on two text arguments, one of which is optional. The syntax is as follows:

 =HYPERLINK(link_location,friendly_name) 

In this syntax, link_location, a required argument, is a text value that specifies the target of the link, and friendly_name, an optional argument, is the text that will appear in the cell. If friendly_name is omitted, it is assumed to be the same as link_location. Either argument can be a cell reference. Here are two examples:

 =HYPERLINK(http://office.microsoft.com,"Microsoft Office Online") =HYPERLINK("[\\Cervantes\Rocinante\myfile.xlsx\Sheet2!B29") 

The first example displays the text Microsoft Office Online as a hyperlink that connects to http://office.microsoft.com. Note that you must include the http:// prefix in the link_location argument. The second example creates a hyperlink that takes you to cell B29 on Sheet2 of Myfile.xlsx, stored on the Rocinante share on the server named Cervantes.

Inside Out-Create Dynamic Links with the HYPERLINK Function

The most likely use for the HYPERLINK function is to construct a link target from text in another cell. For example, if you want a set of links to jump to different servers at different times, you could type the current server name in a cell and then build HYPERLINK formulas with absolute references to that cell. By changing the cell contents, you could then update all the HYPERLINK formulas at once.