Links allow you to connect your Word document to other documents, webpages, or files. Using links makes your document more useful to readers by allowing them to easily access additional information.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps for inserting different types of links in Word. I’ll cover linking to webpages, other documents, headings, and email addresses. Whether you’re creating a report, research paper, or brochure, you’ll learn how to effectively use links.
Linking to a Webpage
Let’s start with the most common type of link – linking text or an image to a webpage. Here are the steps:
- Select the text or image you want to make into a hyperlink. This will become the clickable link that takes users to another webpage.
- On the Insert tab in the Links group, click the Hyperlink button. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+K.
- In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, switch to the Web Page tab.
- In the Address field, type or paste the URL of the webpage you want to link to. For example, I might enter
https://www.microsoft.com
. Image - Check the Text to display box to make sure it shows the text you want to use for the link. This is the clickable text users will see.
- Click OK.
The selected text or image now functions as a clickable link to the webpage. You can tell it’s linked because the text is underlined and turns blue.
Linking to Another Document
Linking between Word documents is also very useful. Follow these simple steps:
- Select the text or image you want to make into a link.
- On the Insert tab, click the Hyperlink button.
- In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, switch to the Place in This Document tab.
- Under Link to, choose Headings to link to a heading in the current document or Bookmark to link to a bookmark.
- Select the specific heading or bookmark from the list.
- Make sure the Text to display field shows the desired link text.
- Click OK.
Now your selected text will jump readers to the chosen heading or bookmark when clicked!
Linking to an Email Address
Making an email link allows readers to easily send you an email. Here’s how:
- Select the text or image to make into the link. This will often be something like “Contact me” or your name.
- On the Insert tab, click Hyperlink.
- In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, switch to the E-mail Address tab.
- Type an email address into the E-mail address field. Use your own or a shared team inbox. Image
- Ensure the Text to display field shows the desired link text.
- Click OK.
Now when users click the link, their default email app will open and start a new message addressed to the email you entered.
Customizing Link Appearance
You can customize the appearance of links in your document by right-clicking the link and selecting Hyperlink from the popup menu:
- Change the link destination
- Modify the link text
- Change link colors
- Remove links
You can also use the Ctrl+click keyboard shortcut on a link to open the menu.
Conclusion
Now you know how to insert the main types of links in Word! Use links liberally to connect your document to helpful resources and allow smooth navigation.
Linking text makes documents less isolated and static. Links create an interactive, connected document that leads readers to the additional information they want.
I hope you feel empowered to use links to enrich your Word docs. Let me know if you have any other questions!