Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

In previous versions of MS Word, there was a preference for the action to be taken when the user clicked a hyperlink: open it, or edit it. Word 2011 appears to have defaulted to opening the hyperlink, and I can't find the preference to change this behaviour.

How can I change Word's default behaviour when a hyperlink is clicked to be editing the text of the hyperlink? Holding down a modifier key when clicking is not an acceptable solution, as the aim here is to prevent misclicks from causing web pages to open.

Edit: the links need to stay as links in the saved document. But when clicked on my machine, they should not open. Word needs to default to just editing the link, so an inaccurate click does not take me out of the document into Safari. Older versions of Word had a preference controlling this, and Microsoft seem to have removed it and fixed the behavior at the unsafe option in order to satisfy the point-and-drool crowd.

share|improve this question
Did you tried this as How to geek explained. Or you can try press Ctrl+A, which will highlight the entire text and then press Ctrl+Shift+F9 (OR Ctrl+6), and you will see all links disappearing within seconds – avirk Oct 6 '12 at 13:40
By the way which OS you have? – avirk Oct 6 '12 at 13:54
I'm on Mac OS 10.8.2, and removing the hyperlinks is not the right answer; I'm looking to have them not open when clicked. – John Yeates Oct 6 '12 at 15:03

2 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

How about going to the end of where the hyperlink is and pressing backdelete, to remove the link aspect of it

Another way is copy/paste the link into notepad then back into msword. Then don't push ENTER after it. If you want a new line or more after it, and you don't already have them, then make the new lines before you paste the link in. So the link is there but it comes out as plain text and you have new lines after it if need be.

So, when a link is there, you make sure it doesn't go blue and start looking like a link detected by Ms Word, otherwise if it is clicked it will open.

I've tested it in Word 2003.

share|improve this answer
Sorry, that doesn't answer the question — the hyperlinks need to stay in the document. Also, you've given Windows-specific answers for a Mac program — there is no Notepad on Mac OS :) – John Yeates Oct 6 '12 at 15:07
ah you didn't mention mac. By the way, do you want to hover over it and see the address but to click it doesn't go anywhere? What do you gain from it being a (hyper)link, if you don't want the link to jump anywhere? – barlop Oct 6 '12 at 20:02
When I send the document (a CV) to recruiters, I want them to be able to click the link to my portfolio. When I am editing the document, I want to be able to edit it, not keep opening browser windows — that is, the behaviour on my machine shouldn't be the same for everyone. – John Yeates Oct 7 '12 at 12:40
up vote 0 down vote

I do not know if Word 2011 for Mac is the equivalent of Word 2010 for Windows.

If so, check Word Options > Advanced > Use Ctrl + Click to follow hyperlinks. It should be selected so that hyperlinks will not open when you click on them.

If you have such an option and select it then hyperlinks in your document will be opened with Ctrl + Left Click, if it is not selected hyperlinks will open when you click on them.

Hope this helps.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.