References to Hyperlinks Aren't Hyperlinks

Summary: If you have a hyperlink in a cell and you reference that cell in a formula, you may wonder why the result of the formula isn't a hyperlink as well. The answer lies in how Excel pulls the information it uses in its formulas. This tip explains the logic behind the result. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

If you have a hyperlink in a cell (such as cell A1) and then you use a formula in another cell that references that hyperlink, the result of that formula is not a hyperlink. For instance, suppose cell B1 contains this simple formula:

=A1

The result of that formula will not be a hyperlink, even if cell A1 contains a hyperlink. The reason is that the formula extracts the value of the referenced cell, which is the text displayed in A1. If what is displayed in cell A1 is a URL, then you could modify your formula just a bit to result in a hyperlink:

=HYPERLINK(A1)

If cell A1 does not contain a URL, or if it is a hyperlink where the displayed text is different then the underlying URL, then the HYPERLINK function won't work as expected.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3282) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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References to Hyperlinks Aren't Hyperlinks