Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: References to Hyperlinks aren't Hyperlinks.

References to Hyperlinks aren't Hyperlinks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 20, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


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 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: References to Hyperlinks aren't Hyperlinks.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Concatenating Names with Delimiters

Need to come up with a formula for combining lots of text from various cells? Here's a full discussion on how you can do ...

Discover More

Saving Versions

If you need to save your Excel data at different benchmarks, you might want to use some sort of "versioning" system. Such ...

Discover More

Small Red Dots under Addresses

Does your document have all sorts of different colored underlines on it? Tracking down what most of them are can be easy, ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Get Rid of Web Stuff

When you copy information from a Web page and paste it into a worksheet, you can end up with more than you bargained for. ...

Discover More

Linking to a Specific Page in a PDF File

The HYPERLINK function is great for linking to Web pages and some other resources, but it won't allow you to access a ...

Discover More

Specifying a Browser in a Hyperlink

Excel allows you to easily add hyperlinks to a worksheet. Click on it, and the target of the link is opened in a browser ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven minus 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.