How to Insert, Delete, and Manage Hyperlinks in Microsoft Word

Inserting Hyperlinks

You can insert different types of hyperlinks in Word documents:

Link to an External Webpage

To insert a hyperlink to an external webpage:

Copy the URL of the webpage you want to link to

In Word, select the text you want to be hyperlinked
Right-click and select Link > Insert Link
Paste the URL in the address field and click OK

For example, to insert a link to www.example.com, copy the URL, select the text “Example website”, right-click, click Insert Link, paste the URL, and click OK.

Link to Another Place in the Same Document

To link to another place in the same document:

Create a bookmark at the destination by selecting the text and clicking Insert > Bookmark

Give the bookmark a unique name
Select the text you want to be hyperlinked and right-click
Select Link > Place in This Document

Choose the bookmark you created

Link to a New Document

To link to a new document that will be created:

Select the text to be hyperlinked and right-click

Select Link > Place in This Document
Click Create New Document
Give the new document a name

Choose whether to edit the document now or later

Link to an Email Address

To insert a link to an email address:

Select the text and right-click

Select Link > Insert Link
Type mailto: followed by the email address in the address field

Editing Hyperlinks

To edit an existing hyperlink:

Right-click on it and select Edit Hyperlink
Make changes to the address, text to display, screen tip etc. and click OK

Removing Hyperlinks

To remove a hyperlink:

Right-click on it and select Remove Hyperlink

The text will remain but lose the hyperlink formatting.

To remove all hyperlinks at once:

Word: Select all text (Ctrl+A) and press Ctrl+Shift+F9
Excel: Select cells with links > Right click > Remove Hyperlinks

Changing Hyperlink Appearance

To change the color or underline formatting of hyperlinks:

Select the hyperlink text
Open the Font dialog box
Make changes to font style, size or color

Click OK

To update hyperlink appearance globally:

Press Ctrl+Shift+S to open the Apply Styles pane

Find and right-click the Hyperlink style
Modify the formatting options
Click Modify to save changes

All hyperlinks will now reflect the new formatting.

Best Practices

Follow these best practices when working with hyperlinks in Word:

Use meaningful text for hyperlinks instead of long URLs

Test links after inserting to ensure they work correctly
Break long URLs with hyphens using Ctrl+hyphen to improve readability
Set screen tips to provide additional context on the link destination

Use absolute paths for linking to internal files to prevent broken links
Disable automatic hyperlink creation if it causes issues
Remove hyperlinks not needed instead of just disabling them

Change the hyperlink style to fit better with document formatting

Conclusion

Using hyperlinks in Word documents enables connecting related content for quick access. You can link to external sites, internal document locations, files, email addresses, and more.

It’s important to manage hyperlinks by editing, updating, and removing invalid ones over time. This keeps the document usable, maintains integrity of the content, and improves the overall user experience for readers.

Following Word hyperlink best practices allows creating useful links while avoiding pitfalls like broken URLs. With the techniques covered here, you’ll have the knowledge to effectively insert hyperlinks in Word documents and handle them throughout the content lifecycle.