Hyperlinks are clickable links that take you to a specific web page, or source, within or outside your Word document. Microsoft Word occasionally inserts clickable links where you do not want them (i.e., citations and within the text).
Links can be helpful in some cases, but they can also appear cluttered, unprofessional, or unnecessary in a printed document.
You can add or remove hyperlinks as needed depending on the requirements of your Word document.
When you enter or copy and paste URLs into Word, hyperlinks are added automatically to the Word document. To follow the link in Word, hold down the control (ctrl) key while clicking on it. It is hard to keep up with everything Microsoft Word does with so many features and functions.
Tip: To follow the link in Word for Mac, hold down the ⌘ command key while clicking on it.
While helpful hyperlinks can also be annoying, for example, when a user copies information from a website such as Wikipedia and pastes it into a Word document, the hyperlinks follow. These hyperlinks are useless because you do not want them in your document.
This article teaches you how to remove hyperlinks from a Word document so you can get back to work.
RELATED: How to Hyperlink in Microsoft Word
Remove Hyperlinks in Word using Tools Menu Option
Microsoft Word Tools menu has an option that lets you remove hyperlinks from your document. Here’s how.
1. Highlight the hyperlink you want to remove and “Right-click” on it.
2. Click “Remove Hyperlink.”
3. The text/characters will revert to their original color and appear as default text.
Alternatively, you can right-click anywhere on a link and click “Edit Hyperlink” in the pop-up menu that appears. This option displays the window shown below. On that window, click “Remove Link” and then click “OK.”
Remove All Hyperlinks in MS Word using HotKeys
HotKeys make it faster and easier to delete hyperlinks in MS Word primarily because they delete multiple links regardless of how many are in your document. In the first process, the right-click method deletes hyperlinks one by one. Here is how to remove all hyperlinks in Word.
If there are numerous links on multiple pages, it is preferable to remove all hyperlinks in Word using hotkeys.
Windows users can use these hotkeys:
It is easy to remove all hyperlinks using Windows hotkeys. Here is how.
- To highlight the entire text in your Word document, press “Ctrl + A” simultaneously.
- To remove all the links, press “Ctrl + Shift + F9.”
Mac users can use these hotkeys:
To remove all hyperlinks using Mac hotkeys, do the following.
- To highlight the entire text in the article, press “CMD + A.”
- To remove all hyperlinks at once, press “CMD + fn + Shift + F9.”
Remove Hyperlinks From MS Word Documents using Macros
The Macro Recorder is a helpful tool included in Word that allows you to record a series of preferred options and playback the macro when needed. You can also manually enter Visual Basic code to create a macro that removes hyperlinks from all open Word documents.
To start, simultaneously press the “Alt + F11” hotkey to launch the Visual Basic editor. To open a Module window where you can enter macro code, select “Insert,” and click “Module.” Then, “Ctrl + C” to copy and “Ctrl + V” to paste the below code into the module window of MS Word.
1. To open the Visual Basic editor, simultaneously press the “Alt + F11” hotkey.
2. Click “Insert” on the “Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications” window.
3. Select “Module” to bring up the Module window, where you can enter the macro code.
4. Highlight the code below and press “Ctrl + C” to copy and “Ctrl + V” to paste it into the MS Word module window.
Sub ClearHyperlinks()
Dim oField As Field
For Each oField In ActiveDocument.Fields
If oField.Type = wdFieldHyperlink Then
oField.Unlink
End If
Next
Set oField = Nothing
End Sub
Once you have pasted the above code, use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + S” to save the macro.
To run the macro, go back to your document, and do the following.
1. Click the “File” tab at the top.
2. Click “Options” at the bottom.
3. In the Word Options window, select “Customize Ribbon.”
4. Under “Customize the Ribbon,” locate and check the “Developer” option and click “OK.”
5. Then select the newly added “Developer” tab in the ribbon.
6. Click “Macros.”
7. Then choose “ClearHyperlinks” and click “Run.”
Congrats! You removed all hyperlinks in open Word documents at the same time.
Copying and Pasting Plain Text Hyperlinks
You may want to paste copied links as plain text to display the complete web address.
1. Copy the website link you want to use by pressing the “Ctrl + C” hotkey.
2. In MS Word, right-click and choose “Keep Text Only” from the context menu but do not press the “Enter” key after pasting the web address as that converts the URL to hyperlink format.
Tip: “Keep Text Only” option will appear only after copying the link or the web address you want to use.
Tip: To remove the hyperlink format from the URL, right-click on it and choose the Remove hyperlink option. It will convert the web address as a plain text hyperlink.
How to Turn Off Automatic Hyperlink Formatting in Word
Word converts URLs to hyperlinks automatically, but you can prevent this from happening. Here’s how.
1. Click the “File” tab.
2. Select the “Options” button from the left pane to open the “Word Options” window.
3. Select “Proofing” from the left menu.
4. Click the “AutoCorrect Options“ button.
5. Choose the “AutoFormat As You Type” tab.
6. Clear the check box “Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.”
7. Click on the “OK” button on the “AutoCorrect” and “Word Options” windows to apply changes.
All URLs entered in Word documents will now be displayed in plain text.
Conclusion
There are several methods for converting Word document links to plain text URLs. Word has hotkeys, context menu options, and macros that you can use to delete hyperlinks from Word documents.
RELATED: What Is Microsoft Word?
To remove a hyperlink in Word on Mac: Launch a Word document with a hyperlink. Right-click on a link you wish to delete. Click the Hyperlink option and then select Remove Hyperlink.
