How to Insert a Hyperlink in Excel? 3 Easy Ways

(Note: This guide on how to insert a hyperlink in Excel is suitable for all Excel versions including Office 365)

Hyperlinks are an important part of any application that you can use to access or refer to other data with just a click. Predominantly, the term “hyperlink” is used to refer to embedding a webpage into a piece of text.

In Excel, you can do much more than just hyperlinking a webpage to the text. You can embed other worksheets and workbooks, create a new workbook, and even create a hyperlink to an e-mail. Additionally, these hyperlinks not only pertain to text. You can also add hyperlinks to charts and images.

In this article, you’ll learn how to insert hyperlink in Excel in 3 easy ways.

You’ll Learn:

Using the Insert Main Menu
Using the HYPERLINK Function
By Dragging and Dropping

*Download Sample Workbook for Insert a Hyperlink Function in Excel*

Watch our video on how to insert hyperlinks in Excel

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Insert a Hyperlink in Excel

Using the Insert Main Menu

This is the most common method to insert a link into an Excel cell and it offers a variety of functionalities and options.

Insert a Webpage link

Here, let us insert the link “https://www.simonsezit.com/” in the cell with anchor text as SimonSezIT.

To insert a hyperlink, first, select a cell. You can select an empty cell or a cell that already has text in them. This text will act as the anchor text for the link.

After selecting a cell where you want to insert the link, navigate to Insert. Under the Link section, click Link.

This opens up a new dialog box.

In the Address textbox, enter the correct address of the webpage. It is always a better practice to copy and paste the web address than to enter them manually.

If you haven’t added any anchor text, you can enter them in the Text to Display textbox.

Click OK.

This inserts the webpage link into the cell which contains the anchor text. When you click on the text, you will be directed to the respective webpage.

Insert Another File

Using the same option, you can hyperlink the anchor text to insert an existing file. This will greatly minimize the efforts to search for, navigate, and open the file. Here, let us insert the Excel workbook “Funnel Chart in Excel” in the anchor text “Funnel Chart in Excel”.

In the Insert Hyperlink textbox, click on Existing File or Web Page. In the main pane, search for the location of the file and select it.

Click OK.

*Insert a file into a hyperlink in Excel*

This inserts the selected file in your local drive to the cell.
When you click on the link, the default program that is used to open the file opens.

Note: Before you insert the file, make sure the file you’re inserting is properly saved.

Insert a Worksheet

In case you have multiple worksheets in a workbook, searching for that particular worksheet might be a little difficult. In such a case, you can hyperlink other worksheets of the same workbook. Let us link the Sample Sheet onto a cell in the Hyperlink Sheet.

Go to Insert and click on Link. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click on Place in this Document.

Enter the Cell Reference and select the sheet that you want to hyperlink.

Click OK.

*Insert a worksheet into a hyperlink in Excel*

If you click on the cell or the text, it will take you to the selected workbook.

Insert a New Workbook

Using the Create New Document option, you can create a new Excel workbook with just a click.

Go to Insert and click on Link. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens. On the left side, click on Create New Document. Enter the name of the new document and click OK.

You can change the file location using the Change button. To open the new workbook only when you click on the anchor text, click on the Edit the new document now button.

Click OK.

Create a hyperlink for new workbook in Excel

This will insert the anchor text in the selected cell. If you click on the cell or the text, a new workbook will open.

Insert an E-mail address

You can create a hyperlink to a custom e-mail address by following the steps mentioned below.

In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click on E-mail Address.

In the Text to display textbox, enter the anchor text that you want to appear in the cell. Then, enter the E-mail address of the recipient and the Subject of the mail.

This inserts the hyperlink into the selected cell.

When you click on the hyperlink, Excel redirects you to the default mail application where you can compose, edit, and send the mail.

Note: The ScreenTip button that appears in every option is used to add the text to display when you hover over the cell or the text.

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Using the HYPERLINK Function

There is almost a function for every operation in Excel. Using the HYPERLINK function, you can insert hyperlinks into cells in Excel.

Syntax

=HYPERLINK(hyperlink,anchortext)

The hyperlink function takes two arguments. Here, the hyperlink is the link that directs you to the webpage and the anchortext is the text in which the link will be embedded.

To use the HYPERLINK function, select a destination cell.

Enter the formula in the destination cell and press Enter.

*Insert a webpage using HYPERLINK function*

In the same way, you can also insert a hyperlink to a file. Just enter the file location in the first argument and the anchor text in the second argument.

*Insert a file using HYPERLINK function*

Note: Always enclose the hyperlink and anchor text parameter using double quotes.

By Dragging and Dropping

This is an easy and simple way to insert a hyperlink in Excel. Just by dragging and dropping a cell, you can insert the hyperlink to a cell.

First, select a cell and enter the anchor text.

Move the mouse pointer to the corner of the cell. You can see the pointer turn to a four-sided movable pointer.

Right-click and drag the cell to a new position or place it in the same position.

Now, leave the mouse button and click on Create Hyperlink Here.

This hyperlinks the anchor text with the current workbook as default.

You can then copy and paste the hyperlink onto a new worksheet or a new workbook.

If you want to change the hyperlink, right-click on the link and click on Edit Hyperlink.

Edit, Delete, or Remove a Hyperlink

Though hyperlinks are useful in a variety of perspectives, there are some instances where they might not be necessary. In some cases, you will have to change the hyperlink or remove them from the anchor text.

To edit the hyperlink, first, select the cells with the inserted hyperlink.

Now, right-click and select Edit Hyperlink.

This in turn opens the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. Using this, you can change the embedded link or file based on your choice.

To delete a hyperlink, right-click on the link and click on Remove Hyperlink. If you want to know more ways to delete hyperlinks, read our article on how to remove hyperlinks in Excel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to insert a hyperlink in an image in Excel?

To insert an image in Excel, first, insert an image using the Insert option. From the same Insert option, you can find the Link option. Click on it to open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. Then, choose the type you want to insert the hyperlink and add them.

Why is the embedded Excel workbook not opening when I click on the hyperlink?

The workbook is inserted as a hyperlink onto the cell by using its file location/address. If you happen to change the file location, the hyperlink might not work and Excel throws a pop-up saying “Cannot open the Specified File”.

What is the shortcut key to insert hyperlink in Excel?

The easiest way to hyperlink in Excel is by using the shortcut key Ctrl+K. This opens the Insert Hyperlink text box where you can insert the URL or file location.

Closing Thoughts

Knowing how to insert hyperlinks in Excel will mitigate a lot of efforts to search, locate, and open any webpage or another reference file.

In this article, we saw how to insert a hyperlink in Excel in 3 ways. You can either insert the hyperlink from the Insert main menu, using the HYPERLINK function or simply by dragging and dropping. Additionally, you can also choose to hyperlink a webpage or any other file.

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Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!

How to Insert a Hyperlink in Excel? 3 Easy Ways