Inserting Hyperlinks

Inserting Hyperlinks

A hyperlink is a "clickable" piece of text or a graphic that leads to another location (the target of the hyperlink). With Word's Hyperlink feature, you can create links to other documents on your computer or network, to specific locations within a document, or to Web pages. Keep in mind that hyperlinks are useful only if your readers will view the document onscreen.

Figure 13.15 shows a hyperlink that points to an Excel spreadsheet. Note that when you point to a hyperlink, its target appears in a ScreenTip.

Figure 13.15. You can see where a hyperlink will take you by pointing to it.

If you create a hyperlink to a document on your own computer network, make sure the document is in a folder that your readers can access.

Linking to Another Document

If you add hyperlinks to other documents, you can lead your readers to associated information without cluttering up your own document. If you want people to review several documents stored in different locations on your network, you can make it easy for them by giving them a short Word document that contains only hyperlinks to these documents. In this case, the Word document would function as a sort of table of contents. (This particular use of hyperlinks only works if the people who will be reading your document are also on your network.)

Follow these steps to insert a hyperlink to a document on your own computer or network:

1. Select the word or phrase in your document that you want to become the hyperlink text.

2. Click the Insert Hyperlink button in the Standard toolbar or press Ctrl+K (see Figure 13.16).

   Figure 13.16. Click the Insert Hyperlink button in the Standard toolbar to insert a hyperlink in your document.

   

3. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, use the Look In drop-down list (and the Up One Level button to its right) to navigate to the folder that contains the document you want to link to (see Figure 13.17).

   Figure 13.17. Use the Insert Hyperlink dialog box to specify the target of your hyperlink.

   

4. Select the document. Its location now appears in the Address text box. Click OK .

The hyperlink text is now colored and underlined . When you point to it, the address of the target document appears in a ScreenTip. Ctrl+click the hyperlink. Word may display a warning about clicking hyperlinks. If it does, click the Yes button. (This assumes that you trust the document you hyperlinked to does not contain any viruses.) In a moment, Word displays the document. If the document was created in another application, it launches that application and opens the document within it. When you're finished viewing the document, close it.

Whenever you Ctrl+click a hyperlink in a Word document, the Web toolbar appears. This toolbar has buttons similar to those in a browser window. If you find it distracting, choose View, Toolbars, Web to hide it.

Linking to a Specific Location in a Document

If you've written a long Word document that people will view onscreen, consider adding some hyperlinks at the top of it that point to the main sections within the document. (You can also create hyperlinks in the main sections that lead back to the top of the document.)

Follow these steps to insert a hyperlink to a heading or a bookmark in the current document:

1. Select the word or phrase in your document that you want to become the hyperlink text.

2. Click the Insert Hyperlink button in the Standard toolbar or press Ctrl+K.

3. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click the Bookmark button.

4. In the Select Place in Document dialog box that appears, you can specify the top of the document, a heading, or a bookmark as the target of the hyperlink. Click the plus signs next to Headings and Bookmarks to display the headings and bookmarks in the document. Select the desired location (see Figure 13.18), and click OK .

   Figure 13.18. Use the Select Place in Document dialog box to specify a heading or bookmark as the target of the link.

   

5. The location now appears in the Address text box in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, preceded by a pound (#) sign. Click OK .

Word creates the colored and underlined hyperlink. When you point to it, the ScreenTip lists the specific location in the document. Ctrl+click the hyperlink to test it.

You can also create a link to a bookmark in another document. (You can't create a link to a heading in another document. If you want the link to point to a heading, insert a bookmark at that heading.) To do so, navigate to and select the file from the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, and then use the Bookmark button to select the bookmark in that file.

Linking to a Web Page

If you like, you can create hyperlinks that lead to Web pages. You might, for example, want to point your readers toward Web sites (or Web pages on your company intranet) that contain information related to topics in your document.

To add a hyperlink to a Web page, follow these steps:

1. Select the word or phrase in your document that you want to become the hyperlink text.

2. Click the Insert Hyperlink button in the Standard toolbar or press Ctrl+K.

3. Click the Browse the Web toolbar button in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. Alternatively, you can type the full address of the target Web page (including the http://) in the Address text box) and skip to step 5.

4. Your browser window opens, and you are prompted to connect to the Internet if you aren't already online. Navigate to the target Web page, and then click the Word document's taskbar button to switch back to it.

5. The address of the document or Web page now appears in the Address text box. Click OK .

The hyperlink text is now colored and underlined. When you point to it, the address of the target Web page appears in a ScreenTip. Try Ctrl+clicking the hyperlink. In a moment, Word displays the target Web page. (You may be prompted to connect to the Internet if you disconnected after following steps 3 and 4 in the previous list.)

Modifying or Deleting a Hyperlink

If you want to modify a hyperlink, right-click it and choose Edit Hyperlink in the context menu to display the Edit Hyperlink dialog box. This dialog box looks just like the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. Make any changes you like to the hyperlink, and click OK.

To remove a hyperlink (thus converting the hyperlink text to regular text), right-click it and choose Remove Hyperlink in the context menu.

If you have cleared the Use Ctrl+Click to Follow Hyperlink option in the Edit tab of the Options dialog box (Tools, Options), you may find it difficult to select a hyperlink without actually clicking it and jumping to its target. If this is the case, you can select it by right-clicking the hyperlink and choosing Select Hyperlink in the context menu.