Hyperlinks can be used to build a table of contents in an excel workbook with many worksheets.

If you specify a hidden sheet name, nothing happens when you click the hyperlink. If the sheet name is wrong, then the error message in Figure 4 displays.

Sheet name changes

You can extract a sheet name using a formula. Instead of typing the name in the index sheet, you have a couple of options.

You could create a formula in the destination sheet that extracts the sheet name formula. You can then link to that cell from the index sheet. When the name changes, the formula automatically updates the index sheet.

Alternatively, you could enter the sheet name formula in the index sheet and link to a cell in the destination sheet. This will extract the destination sheet name. The downside of this technique is that the formula becomes quite long.

I have provided examples of both formulas later in this article.

Excel versions

In practical terms, there are currently two versions of Excel.

1. The subscription version, called Microsoft 365 or Excel 365, which has lots of new features.

2. All the older versions, which will not be updated with the new features.

Below are two versions of each of the two formulas mentioned above, one for the subscription version and one for every other version of Excel.

Destination sheet formulas

These are entered in any cell in the destination sheet. The same formula works no matter which sheet or cell you enter it into.

Subscription version

=LET(c,CELL(“filename”,A1),RIGHT(c,LEN(c)-SEARCH(“]”,c)))

All versions

=RIGHT(CELL(“filename”,A1),LEN(CELL(“filename”,A1))-SEARCH(“]”,CELL(“filename”,A1)))

Having created one formula, you can copy and paste it to the other sheets. Once these formulas are in the destination sheets, you can link to them from the index sheet. This captures the sheet name on the index sheet.

Index sheet formulas

Formulas to enter in the index sheet are the same as the ones above, but they link to another sheet, the destination sheet. In the examples below, I have used cell A1 in the instructions sheet.

Subscription versions

=LET(c,CELL(“filename”,Instructions!$A$1),RIGHT(c,LEN(c)-SEARCH(“]”,c)))

All version formula

=RIGHT(CELL(“filename”,Instructions!$A$1),LEN(CELL(“filename”,Instructions!$A$1))-SEA RCH(“]”,CELL(“filename”,Instructions!$A$1))) 

You would need to create this formula for each sheet whose name you want to automatically update in the index sheet.

Hyperlinked images

Earlier, I suggested including a hyperlink to the index sheet in all the other sheets. One way to do this is to use an image. Excel has access to many types of images in the Insert tab and the Illustrations section.

Let’s say we want to use a boomerang icon to symbolise “going back” or “returning”. We can add the icon to the sheet, right-click the icon and choose Link. This is also how you create a standard link in a cell. The keyboard shortcut to insert a Hyperlink is Ctrl + k.

As shown in Figure 5, click the Place in This Document icon on the left, choose the index sheet and click OK.

Combine the navigational features of hyperlinks with the organizational capabilities of a table of contents, and you get a powerful new way to manage large Excel workbooks. You can create an Excel TOC whose entries point to your workbook's worksheets. People can then click any entry in the TOC and jump to its corresponding worksheet without scrolling horizontally to find the worksheet they're seeking.

1. Launch Excel and open a workbook that has at least two worksheets. Click the "New Sheet" button on the Worksheet bar at the bottom of the Excel window to create a new worksheet tab.

2. Right-click the new worksheet tab, select "Rename" and type "Table of Contents." Click the tab and drag it to the left so that it appears in front of the other tabs. This tab becomes your Table of Contents worksheet.

3. Click the Table of Contents worksheet's "A1" cell to select it and then click "Insert" from the ribbon. Click "Hyperlink" to open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. Click "Place in This Document" and note that the dialog box displays a list of the workbook's worksheet names.

4. Click the worksheet that sits to the right of your new Table of Contents worksheet and type that worksheet's name in the "Text to Display" text box. Click "OK" and Excel adds a new hyperlink to cell A1 in the Table of Contents worksheet. This hyperlink's name matches the name you typed in the "Text to Display" text box.

5. Click cell "A2" and click "Insert" again. Click "Hyperlink," click "Place in This Document" and click the next worksheet that sits on the worksheet bar. Type its name in the "Text to Display" text box and click "OK." At this point, your Table of Contents worksheet contains two clickable entries that represent two of your workbook's worksheets.

Create hyperlinks by dragging and dropping, or with the HYPERLINK function. Remove hyperlinks manually, or with a macro. Make a table of contents with a macro.

Create Excel Hyperlinks

In an Excel worksheet, you can create a hyperlink in any cell. Then, click that hyperlink to go to the specified location.

Here are four ways create a hyperlink -- click a link to go to those instructions, below:

Type a Website URL

If you type a valid website address in a cell, Excel should automatically create a hyperlink, when you press Enter

For example,

1. In cell B3, type the address of the Contextures website: //www.contextures.com
2. Press Enter

The text changes to a hyperlink, and you can click the link to go to the Contextures website.

Tip: If you want to stop hyperlinks from being automatically created in Excel, follow the instructions here.

Insert a Hyperlink

Another way to add a hyperlink is by using a built-in Excel command - Insert Hyperlink.

Start the Link

To use the Insert Hyperlink command, follow these steps to get started:

• Select the cell where you want the hyperlink
• On the Excel Ribbon, click the Insert tab, and click the Hyperlink command
  • OR, right-click the cell, and click Link
  • OR, use the keyboard shortcut - Ctrl + K

Text to Display

At the top of the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, there is a "Text to Display" box. What you see in the Text to Display box depends on what is in the cell where you're creating the hyperlink.

Here are the 4 different types of content that affect the Text to Display option:

• Text in Cell
• Empty Cell
• Number in Cell
• "Text" Number in Cell

Text in Cell

If the selected cell contains text, that text will appear in the Text to Display box.

• You can edit the Text to Display text
• The revised text will appear in the cell, after you create the hyperlink.

Empty Cell

If the selected cell is empty, the sheet name, and cell A1 will appear in the Text to Display box.

• You can edit the Text to Display text
• The revised text will appear in the cell, after you create the hyperlink.

Number in Cell

If the selected cell contains a real number, you will not be able to edit the Text to Display box.

The box contents are dimmed out, and it shows this message: < < Selection in Document > >

• NOTE: You will see the same message if you're adding a hyperlink to a shape on the worksheet.

If you want to edit the Text to Display:

• Create the hyperlink, and then change the value in the cell

OR

• Close the Insert Hyperlink dialog box
• Change the cell's number to text (format as text, or type an apostrophe before the number)
• Open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box again, and the Text to Display Box will be editable

Text to Display dimmed out and says < < Selection in Document > > "Text" Number in Cell

If the selected cell contains a "text" number (formatted as text, or starting with an apostrophe), that text number will appear in the Text to Display box.

• You can edit the Text to Display text
• The revised text will appear in the cell, after you create the hyperlink.

Add a Screen Tip (Optional)

When you point to a cell that contains a hyperlink, its Screen Tip appears. You can enter your own text for the Screen Tip, or leave this setting empty.

NOTE: If you leave the Screen Tip empty, the full hyperlink address will appear in the Screen Tip.

To add your own text for the Screen Tip:

• In the Insert Hyperlink window, click the Screen Tip button
• Type the text for the screen tip - Google Website
• Click OK

Choose Link Type

There are four options in the "Links To" panel, in the Insert Hyperlink window:

1. Existing file or Web Page
2. Place in This Document
3. Create New Document
4. E-mail Address

At the left side of the Insert Hyperlink window, click the link type that you need.

Existing File or Web Page

Use this option, if you want to make it easy for people to open another Excel file, or go to a web page, for more information.

• In the Link To list, click on Existing File or Web Page
• To link to an existing file, use the folder navigation, to find and select the file that you need
  • OR, to link to a web page, type its URL in the Address box

Create Hyperlinks with Drag and Drop

If you're creating hyperlinks within an Excel file, the quickest and easiest method is to use drag and drop. For example, you could create a table of contents sheet (TOC), in a workbook, with links to other sheet.

To see a quick overview of how you can create a hyperlink by drag and drop, you can watch this short video. The written instructions are below the video.

If you have trouble dragging to a different sheet, drag to a nearby blank cell, then cut and paste onto the other sheet. This animated gif shows those steps.

Create a Hyperlink With Drag and Drop

Follow these steps to create drag and drop hyperlinks.

1. First, save the workbook, if it hasn't been saved yet. (In a new workbook, that hasn't been saved, this technique won't work.)
2. Then, click on a cell that you want to link to. (You're going to drag that cell to another sheet, where you want to create a hyperlink)
3. Point to the cell's border, and press the right mouse button.
4. To drag the cell to another sheet, press the Alt key, and drag the cell onto the other sheet's tab.
5. Once the other sheet is activated, release the Alt key, and drag to the cell where you want the hyperlink
6. Release the right mouse button, and in the popup menu, click Create Hyperlink Here

7. A hyperlink will appear in the cell, with the text from the original cell.

Stop Automatic Hyperlinks in Excel

If you don't want hyperlinks automatically created when you type a website address, you can turn the hyperlinking feature off. To see a quick overview of how you can stop automatic hyperlinks from being created automatically, you can watch this short video. The written instructions are below the video.

To turn the hyperlink option off::

1. On the Excel Ribbon, click the File tab, then click Options
2. Click the Proofing category, and click the AutoCorrect Options button
3. On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, remove the check mark from Internet and network paths with hyperlinks
4. Click OK, twice, to close the dialog boxes

Use the HYPERLINK Function

To see a quick overview of how you can create a hyperlink with the HYPERLINK function, you can watch this short video. Written instructions are below the video

Below are the written instructions for using the HYPERLINK function to:

• link to a website or email
• link to an Excel file

Create a Hyperlink to a Website or Email

If there is a list of email addresses or website addresses in Excel, you can create a hyperlink for each row, in a separate column. In this example, there is a name in column A, and a website URL or an email address in column B. Hyperlinks will be created in column C.

• You'll use the HYPERLINK function, which takes two arguments:

• Link_Location: This is the email address or URL. For an email address, start with "mailto:" and for a URL, start with "//"
• Friendly Name: This argument is optional, and lets you specify a "friendly" name for the link. For example, instead of a long URL, you can show a company name, or short description.

To create a hyperlink for each address:

1. In cell C2, type the formula: =HYPERLINK(B2,A2)
2. Press Enter, to see the hyperlink in C3. It uses the link in cell B2, and the text in cell A2 is shown in cell C2, as the Friendly Name.
3. Copy the formula down to the remaining rows.

HYPERLINK Formula to Excel File

With a HYPERLINK formula, you can link to a location in the current Excel workbook, or to another Excel file. Watch this video to see the steps, and the written instructions are below the video.

Below are the written instructions linking to an Excel file:

• link within the same file
• link to another Excel file

Link Within the Same File

You can use a HYPERLINK formula to create a link that goes to a cell or range somewhere within the current workbook. The trick is to add a pound sign (#) at the start of the address.

Here are examples of HYPERLINK formulas within the same workbook:

Type the Address

Start with a #, then type the sheet name and cell reference.

Optional - Type a friendly name, such as "Budget" to appear in the cell:

• =HYPERLINK("#Sheet2!B2","Budget")

Use Cell References

Use the & operator to create a link location.

In this example, the sheet name is in cell B5, the cell address is in C5, and the friendly name is in cell D5.

• =HYPERLINK("#"&"'" & B5 & "'!" & C5,D5)

Type a Range Name

For a link to a workbook-level named range in the same workbook, just use the range name as the link location.

• =HYPERLINK("#StartCell","StartCell")

Next Empty Cell

Go to the empty cell at the end of a worksheet list, or a named table.

Worksheet List

In cell B1, the formula finds the first empty cell after the worksheet list in column A:

• =HYPERLINK("#A" & COUNTA(A:A) + ROW(A3), "Add Entry")

To find the empty row number, add the count of items in column A, plus the row number for the starting cell.

Named Table

In cell E1, the formula finds the first empty cell after the named table in column D:

• =HYPERLINK("#D" & SUM(COUNTA(tblDays[Day]), ROW(tblDays[[#Headers], [Day]]), 1), "Add Entry")

To find the empty row number, the formula calculates the SUM of:

• The table's starting row
  • =ROW(tblDays[[#Headers],[Day]])
• The number of data rows in the table
• Plus one, to get to the empty cell below the table

Link to Another Excel File

To create a link to another Excel file, in the same folder, just use the file name as the link_location argument for the HYPERLINK function.

=HYPERLINK("MyFileC.xlsx","FileC")

For files that are up a level or more in the hierarchy, use two periods and a backslash for each level.

• In this example, the file is 1 level up.

=HYPERLINK("..\MyFileB.xlsx","FileB")

• In this example, the file is 2 levels up.

=HYPERLINK("..\..\MyFileA.xlsx","FileA")

Remove Hyperlinks

Below are the instructions for two methods of removing hyperlinks

Manually removing hyperlinks,

and a macro to remove hyperlinks

Manually Remove Hyperlinks

In Excel 2010 or later:

In Excel 2010, you can quickly remove hyperlinks from selected cells. (Thanks to Sam for this tip.)

1. Select cell(s) that contain hyperlinks
2. Right click on any selected cell
3. Click Remove hyperlinks

To see the steps, watch this Excel Quick Tips video.

In Excel 2007 and earlier versions:

To remove hyperlinks from a group of cells, you can copy and paste the cells as values. To see the steps, watch this Excel Quick Tips video.

Macro to Remove All Hyperlinks in Selected Cells

Instead of manually removing the hyperlinks, you can you can use the following macro code. It deletes all hyperlinks in the selected cells, and leaves just the cell text.

Copy this code into a regular module in your workbook, then select the cells, and run the delHyperlinks macro.

Sub delHyperlinks() 'posted by Rick Rothstein Selection.Hyperlinks.Delete End Sub

Point to Hyperlink

Follow these steps to make the pointing hand appear anywhere in a hyperlink cell, and see how to select a hyperlinked cell, without following the link.

Show the Pointing Hand

If a wide cell contains a short hyperlink, the pointing hand will only appear when it's over the text, not in the empty space. To fix that:

• Select the cell(s)
• On the Home tab of the Excel Ribbon, click the Wrap Text command.

Select a Hyperlink Cell

If you need to select a hyperlink cell, perhaps to edit the text, without following the link:

• Point to the cell, and press the left mouse button for a couple of seconds.
• The pointer will change to a big white plus sign, to show that the cell was selected.
• You can now edit the hyperlink cell

Create Sheet List With Links (Macro)

The following code will create a Table of Contents in an Excel file, with a list of all the visible worksheets, and a hyperlink to cell A1 on each sheet. You can get this code in a sample file -- look for download #3 in the list below

Tip: On each worksheet, put a hyperlink back to the Table of Contents sheet.

Sub CreateTOC() Dim wsA As Worksheet Dim ws As Worksheet Dim wsTOC As Worksheet Dim lRow As Long Dim rngList As Range Dim lCalc As Long Dim strTOC As String Dim strCell As String lCalc = Application.Calculation On Error GoTo errHandler Application.EnableEvents = False Application.ScreenUpdating = False Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual strTOC = "TOC" strCell = "A1" Set wsA = ActiveSheet On Error Resume Next Set wsTOC = Sheets(strTOC) On Error GoTo errHandler If wsTOC Is Nothing Then Set wsTOC = Sheets.Add(Before:=Sheets(1)) wsTOC.Name = strTOC Else wsTOC.Cells.Clear End If With wsTOC .Range("B1").Value = "Sheet Name" lRow = 2 For Each ws In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets If ws.Visible = xlSheetVisible _ And ws.Name <> strTOC Then .Cells(lRow, 2).Value = ws.Name .Hyperlinks.Add _ Anchor:=.Cells(lRow, 2), _ Address:="", _ SubAddress:="'" & ws.Name _ & "'!" & strCell, _ ScreenTip:=ws.Name, _ TextToDisplay:=ws.Name lRow = lRow + 1 End If Next ws Set rngList = .Cells(1, 2).CurrentRegion rngList.EntireColumn.AutoFit .Rows(1).Font.Bold = True End With Application.ScreenUpdating = True wsTOC.Activate wsTOC.Cells(1, 2).Activate exitHandler: Application.EnableEvents = True Application.ScreenUpdating = True Application.Calculation = lCalc Set rngList = Nothing Set wsTOC = Nothing Set ws = Nothing Set wsA = Nothing Exit Sub errHandler: MsgBox "Could not create list" Resume exitHandler End Sub

Clickable Hyperlinks for Export to PDF

In some versions of Excel, you might have a problem with your hyperlinks, when you create a PDF file from your Excel workbook.

Links Not Clickable in PDF

In the PDF file, some of your hyperlinks might not be clickable, if:

• the hyperlink was created with an Excel formula
• the "friendly name" for the hyperlink is different from the link location

For example, the PDF hyperlink won't work if the friendly name is "Click for info", and the link location is google.com

Avoid the Problem

To avoid this problem, either:

• manually enter the hyperlinks, instead of using the HYPERLINK function
• or, omit the friendly name argument, so the full location link is displayed in the cell

Create Fake Hyperlinks in Pivot Table

Hyperlinks can't be added to a pivot table, even if there are hyperlinks in the source data. In this video, you'll see how to create fake hyperlinks in a pivot table, by using a few lines of Excel VBA code.

The code is shown below the video, and the code has been updated to handle email addresses too.

Create Fake Hyperlinks in Pivot Table

To create fake hyperlinks in a pivot table, you can use a few lines of code on the worksheet's module. Copy this code, and change the field name, to match the name in your pivot table. You can also get this code in a sample file -- look for download #2 in the list below

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange _ (ByVal Target As Range) Dim selPF As PivotField Dim strField As String Dim strAdd As String Dim myVal As String strField = "Site" On Error Resume Next Set selPF = Target.PivotField If Not selPF Is Nothing And _ selPF.Name = strField Then myVal = Target.Value If InStr(1, myVal, "@") > 0 Then strAdd = "mailto:" End If ThisWorkbook.FollowHyperlink _ Address:=strAdd & myVal, _ NewWindow:=True End If End Sub

Extract Hyperlink Address

You can use a macro or a User Defined function (UDF) to extract the address from a hyperlink.

• Macro to Extract to Adjacent Cell
• Create a Hyperlink UDF

Macro to Extract Address to Adjacent Cell

You can use a macro to extract the address from each hyperlink on a worksheet, and store it in the cell to the right of each hyperlink cell. Thanks to Fabio Puccinelli for this example.

NOTE: Hyperlinks that you create with the HYPERLINK function are not recognized as worksheet Hyperlinks. Only hyperlinks that you type or insert are recognized.

Sub ExtractHL_AdjacentCell() Dim HL As Hyperlink For Each HL In ActiveSheet.Hyperlinks HL.Range.Offset(0, 1).Value = HL.Address Next End Sub

Create Function to Extract Hyperlink Address

There's no built in function to extract the URL or email address from a hyperlink. You can create your own Excel function -- a User Defined Function (UDF) -- to extract the address.

To see a quick overview of how you can create your own UDF to extract a hyperlink location, you can watch this short video. The written instructions are below the video.

NOTE: Hyperlinks that you create with the HYPERLINK function are not recognized as worksheet Hyperlinks.

Create a Hyperlink User Defined Function (UDF)

Copy this code into a regular module in your workbook, then use the HLink function in that workbook, just like any other function. For example, to find the URL for a hyperlink in cell B3, use this formula:

=HLink(B3)

Note: If multiple cells are selected, the formula will show the hyperlink (if any) from the first cell in the selected range.

Function HLink(rng As Range) As String 'extract URL from hyperlink - posted by Rick Rothstein If rng(1).Hyperlinks.Count Then HLink = rng.Hyperlinks(1).Address End If End Function

Hide Sheets After Hyperlink

In a large workbook, you can use hyperlinks as a table of contents, to quickly go to a specific sheet. Then, on each worksheet, have another hyperlink, to go back to the table of contents.

To keep things looking tidy, you can use code that hides each sheet, after you click a hyperlink on that sheet. Thanks to Jim Williams for suggesting this technique.

The following code is stored on the ThisWorkbook module, and it runs when a hyperlink is clicked on an worksheet in that workbook. You can also get this code in a sample file -- look for download #4 in the list below

Private Sub Workbook_SheetFollowHyperlink _ (ByVal Sh As Object, ByVal Target As Hyperlink) 'shows hidden target sheet and 'hides sheet where hyperlink was clicked Dim strWs As String Dim strTgt As String Dim strRng As String Dim strMsg As String Dim lCut As Long On Error GoTo errHandler strMsg = "Problem with follow hyperlink code" Select Case Sh.Name Case "Instructions", "MyLinks" GoTo exitHandler Case Else strWs = Target.Parent If ActiveSheet.Name <> strWs Then 'get the target cell/range strTgt = Target.SubAddress lCut = InStr(1, strTgt, "!") strRng = Right(strTgt, Len(strTgt) - lCut) With Sheets(strWs) strMsg = "Could not select the target" .Visible = True .Activate .Range(strRng).Activate End With End If strMsg = "Could not hide the sheet" Sh.Visible = False End Select exitHandler: Exit Sub errHandler: MsgBox strMsg Resume exitHandler End Sub

Get the Excel Hyperlink Sample Files

1. General Examples: To see the hyperlink examples, Hyperlink function examples and macro, you can download the Excel Hyperlink sample file. The file is in xlsm format, zipped, and contains macros. Enable macros if you want to use the sample code.
2. Pivot Table: For the Pivot Table hyperlink code, download Fake Pivot Table Hyperlinks file. The file is in xlsm format, and zipped. Enable macros so that you can use the sample code.
3. Table of Contents: For the Sheet List code, download the Excel Table of Contents file. The file is in xlsm format, and zipped. Enable macros so that you can use the sample code.
4. Hide Sheets: For the code to hide sheets after a hyperlink is clicked, download the Hide Sheets After Hyperlink Click file. The file is in xlsm format, and zipped. Enable macros so that you can use the sample code.
5. Hyperlink Macro: This workbook has a macro that inserts a hyperlink formula in the active cell. The macro prompts for the target cell and the hyperlink text to show. Use shortcut Ctrl+Shift+H to run the macro. The file is in xlsm format, and zipped. Enable macros so that you can use the sample code.

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