Insert Hyperlinks in Excel and Use the HYPERLINK Function

A hyperlink in Excel is a cell you can click to open a web page, a file, an email or another place in the workbook. You can add one by hand with Ctrl+K (Mac: ⌘K), or build many at once with the HYPERLINK function. This guide is for anyone who keeps lists of orders, documents or sheets and wants one-click navigation, including a contents page for a big workbook.

How to insert a hyperlink with Ctrl+K#

The quickest way to add a link is the Insert Link box. It works for one cell at a time:

1. Select the cell that should hold the link.
2. Press Ctrl+K on Windows or ⌘K on a Mac. You can also right-click and choose Link, or use Insert > Link.
3. Choose what to link to:
   • Existing File or Web Page: paste an address such as https://example.com/report.
   • Place in This Document: pick a sheet and type a cell, or pick a defined name.
   • E-mail Address: type the address and an optional subject.
4. In Text to display, type the words people will see, such as "Open report".
5. Click OK.

The cell turns blue and underlined. Click it to follow the link. Excel also turns typed web addresses into links on its own. Press Ctrl+Z (Mac: ⌘Z) straight away to undo just the link and keep the text.

How to use the HYPERLINK function#

HYPERLINK builds a link from text, so the address can come from other cells. The syntax is:

=HYPERLINK(link_location, [friendly_name])

If you leave out friendly_name, the cell shows the address itself. HYPERLINK works in every current version of Excel, including Excel for the web.

The real power is joining text. Say A2:A50 hold order numbers and every order has a page at the same address plus its number. In B2, type:

=HYPERLINK("https://example.com/orders/"&A2,"Order "&A2)

Fill it down (Windows: Ctrl+D; Mac: ⌘D) and every row gets its own working link. If A2 is 1042, the cell shows "Order 1042" and opens the address ending in /orders/1042. The & joins text, exactly as shown in the guide to combining text in Excel.

How to link to another sheet or cell#

To jump inside the workbook, start the address with #. The # tells Excel "a place in this file", not a web page:

=HYPERLINK("#Summary!A1","Back to summary")

When the sheet name has spaces, wrap it in single quotes, just like in a normal reference to another sheet:

=HYPERLINK("#'Jan Sales'!A1","Go to January")

A contents page is the classic use. List every sheet name in A2:A13, then in B2 build each link from the name:

=HYPERLINK("#'"&A2&"'!A1",A2)

For "Feb Sales", the address becomes #'Feb Sales'!A1. You can also point at a defined name: =HYPERLINK("#Targets","See targets") jumps to the range called Targets. The Name Box tips show how to create names quickly. For moving between sheets with the keyboard instead, see the shortcuts to switch sheets.

How to link to an email address#

Put mailto: in front of the address. If C2 holds an email address:

=HYPERLINK("mailto:"&C2,"Email "&B2)

Clicking the cell opens a new message in the default email app. Through the Ctrl+K box, choose E-mail Address instead and Excel adds mailto: for you.

How to select, edit and remove hyperlinks#

A click on a link opens it, so you need other ways to work with the cell:

• Select without opening: move onto the cell with the arrow keys, or click and hold the mouse until the pointer changes, then let go.
• Edit a link made with Ctrl+K: right-click the cell and choose Edit Link (or Edit Hyperlink in older versions), or select it and press Ctrl+K again.
• Edit a HYPERLINK formula: select the cell and edit the formula in the formula bar, like any other formula.
• Remove one link: right-click and choose Remove Hyperlink. The text stays.
• Remove many links: select the range, right-click and choose Remove Hyperlinks. On Windows, Home > Clear > Remove Hyperlinks does the same.

Removing a link made with HYPERLINK doesn't work that way, because it's a formula. Replace it with the text you want, or copy and paste as values.

Ctrl+K or the HYPERLINK function: which should you use?#

Use Ctrl+K for a handful of links you add by hand, and HYPERLINK for links that follow a pattern or depend on other cells.

Both kinds open the same way when clicked. The difference is where the address lives: inside the cell's link settings for Ctrl+K, or in a formula you can read and copy for HYPERLINK.

Why does a hyperlink stop working?#

Most broken links come from text that no longer matches:

1. "Reference isn't valid." The sheet was renamed or deleted. Links store the sheet name as text, so they don't follow a rename. Fix the links after you rename a sheet.
2. Missing quotes around a sheet name with spaces. "#Jan Sales!A1" fails; "#'Jan Sales'!A1" works.
3. No # for a place in the workbook. Without it, Excel treats Summary!A1 as a file name and can't open it.
4. A moved file. Links to files on your computer use a path. If the file moves, update the path.
5. Security prompts. Excel may warn before it opens a file or site. Only open links you trust.

Practise it#

HYPERLINK is mostly text joining with a few rules for sheet names. Practise joining text in a live spreadsheet: you build labels with & and CONCAT, and the sheet checks each answer instantly. Then practise working across worksheets, so the 'Sheet Name'!A1 part feels natural. Or try the exercise on this page, which builds the exact addresses a contents page needs.