How to Remove a Hyperlink In Excel (Steps and Importance)

By Indeed Editorial Team

Published 7 May 2022

The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed's data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.

The hyperlink function in Microsoft Excel generates a shortcut that moves you to a different location on the same document or another website when you click it. This spreadsheet application automatically creates hyperlinks for emails and URLs that you add to a table or a cell. Understanding how to extract these links can enhance your experience with Excel and help you use the software with ease. In this article, we discuss steps on how to remove a hyperlink in Excel and highlight the benefits of doing this.

How to remove a hyperlink in Excel

To understand how to remove a hyperlink from your Excel file, you can follow these steps:

1. Delete links as you type

You can choose to remove URLs from your document as you type. After adding an email address or link, you can press the enter button to move to the lower cell, then select Ctrl+Z. This property can be convenient if you add a few links to your file.

2. Right-click the hyperlink

To extract a single hyperlink from a cell, you can hover around the URL and right-click your mouse or touchpad. A menu appears and you may use it to select the ‘Remove Hyperlink' option from the choices provided. This option converts the link to standard text by removing the ability to click on it.

3. Use the ‘Edit Hyperlink' button

Another way you can delete a hyperlink from your excel document is by using the ‘Edit Hyperlink'. Right-click on a URL and a context menu appears with several command buttons. Select the ‘Edit Hyperlink' from the choices, then select ‘Remove Link' and finally press ‘Ok'.

4. Apply the hyperlink function

If you used the hyperlink function to create your URLs, you might use this procedure to extract them from your document. Select the cell that holds the hyperlink and press Ctrl+C to copy that section. Right-click on your mouse or touchpad and paste using the values option.

5. Use the ‘Paste Special' dialogue box

Using a ‘Paste Special' dialogue box is the first method you can apply to remove multiple hyperlinks from your excel document. This technique can be efficient for 2000-2007 Excel versions. You can follow the following procedure to accomplish this task:

left-click on an empty cell next to your table
type the number one on the cell and copy it
choose a section with a hyperlink and press Ctrl+space to select the whole column
hold the Ctrl button, select another column with hyperlinks and press the space button to choose the entire column without losing your first column
right-click your mouse or touchpad on any cell you've selected
choose the ‘Paste Special' option from the context menu
check the operation section from the dialogue box that appears and choose ‘Multiply'
left-click the ‘Ok' option, which is at the bottom of the display box

6. Select the entire column

Microsoft has upgraded Excel's efficiency and for the 2010-2019 versions, you can comfortably eliminate hyperlinks from your file. You can click a cell containing a link and press Ctrl+space to select the entire column. Right-click on any section you've selected and choose the ‘Remove Hyperlinks' option from the context menu that appears.

7. Remove all hyperlinks simultaneously

In a case where you've scattered the URLs in your document, you can extract them from your file by using this simple keyboard shortcut. You can left-click on an empty cell and press Ctrl+A to select the entire text in your document. Right-click and select ‘Remove Hyperlinks' from the context menu that appears.

8. Disable automatic hyperlinks

You can choose to deactivate the automatic creation of links from your document temporarily. This feature can be helpful to you if the URLs that excel generates are inconveniencing your typing process. The following steps can be a guideline for you:

navigate to the ‘Office' tab if you have the 2007 version, then select ‘Excel Options'
left-click the ‘File' button and choose ‘Options' if you have excel 2010-2019
explore the dialogue box that emerges for either category
check the left column of this display and select the ‘Proofing' button
left-click the ‘Autocorrect Options' tab to show another dialogue box
switch to the ‘AutoFormat As You Type' tab
uncheck the ‘Internet and network paths with hyperlinks' option
left-click the ‘Ok' button at the bottom of the display box to complete disabling hyperlinks

9. Write a macro

Disabling hyperlinks using this technique is permanent for that worksheet. An Excel macro is a documentation of your steps on the application that you can run as many times as you wish. You can follow these steps to learn how to deactivate the generation of URLs using macros:

hold the ‘Alt' button, then press the ‘F11' key to open the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) window
hover around the ‘ThisWorkbook' option that is on the left column and double click it
type or copy and paste the following VBA code onto the box that appears, Sub RemoveAllHyperlinks(), ActiveSheet.Hyperlinks.Delete, End Sub
close the window by clicking the ‘X' button on the top right side of the box
return to your worksheet
hold the ‘Alt' button and press the ‘F8' key to open the ‘Macro' window
left-click ‘Run' to activate your code and disable hyperlinks

10. Put VBA code in the backend

Placing the VBA code in the backend can help you remove hyperlinks from your excel document with one click. Backend in excels can act as an interface to store data. The following steps can help you achieve this task:

left-click the ‘Developer' button from the features that excel provides
go to the ‘Visual basic' tab and select it
right-click the ‘Workbook Objects' from the context box that appears
move your cursor to ‘Insert' and select the option
select the ‘module' button from the drop-down menu that appears
paste the VBA code into the window and close the virtual basics (VB) editor

11. Use the ‘clear' button

This technique is a relatively more straightforward method to remove hyperlinks from a document than using a VBA code. This technique can help you remove URLs while maintaining the format of your paper. The following procedure is a guideline to how you can accomplish this task:

select the cell or cells which you intend to clear hyperlinks from
left-click the ‘Home' button present on the interface of your document
choose the ‘Editing' tab at the far right of the drop menu
select the ‘Clear' option, which may appear as an eraser icon
explore the drop-down menu that appears and select the ‘Remove Hyperlinks' option or the ‘Clear hyperlinks' button
left-click the ‘Clear Hyperlinks Only' option from the ‘Clear hyperlinks' menu to deactivate URLs from your excel file and maintain formatting

12. Customise the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)

You can add the macro to the QAT to further simplify the hyperlink extraction process. This procedure can allow you to remove all hyperlinks from an excel file using a single click. You can follow these steps to execute the role:

go to the top left corner of your and select the ‘Customise Quick Access Toolbar' icon that is next to the undo commands
left-click on the ‘More Commands' option that is at the bottom of the drop menu
select the ‘Choose commands from' arrow and click ‘Macros' option
go to the macro that you want to add and click it
select the ‘add' button and click ‘ok'

Benefits of removing hyperlinks from your document

The following are some of the benefits of removing hyperlinks in an excel document:

Enhances functionality

Removing hyperlinks from your document disables the ability of a URL to transfer you to another location when you click on its cell. This feature can allow you to change your document easily as you type. You can temporarily disable mandatory URLs and then reactivate their capability to be resource locators after you complete your task.

Enhances communication

Deactivating hyperlinks removes immediate access to the locations of the URLs you've cited. The technique can help you ensure that every individual who receives the document analyses it without deviating. This method can be one way to ensure that you enhance effective communication at work.

Improves uniformity

Hyperlinks appear as blue texts, while standard texts occur as black words. You can choose to remove links from official documents you intend to send or print to enhance uniformity. Deactivating URLs converts them to black texts and the entire document achieves colour consistency.

Frees space

Hyperlinks such as emails and URLs occupy storage space on your device and cause lag. Removing them from your document can help you reduce the disc capacity that your file occupies and help your gadget run better. More storage can improve your working experience and help you work efficiently.

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