Excel: convert a column with hyperlinks to just display the links

Question

In Excel, I have a column of links that display text instead of the actual link.

I actually need the links, is there a way to bulk convert the entire column so that the links are exposed? Otherwise I will have to click on each link, open it in a browser, and copy-and-paste the address...

Also, I'm in Excel 2008 for Mac so it looks like I can't do macros...

Answer 1

Short answer: you can't automate this without VBA.

Manual

This is on a Windows 7 computer; just replace the shortcuts with their corresponding Mac counterparts.

1. Highlight a cell with a hyperlink.
2. Press CTRL+K. This opens the hyperlink dialog box (see image below). Once it opens, you'll find that your cursor is already in the Address field.
3. Press CTRL+A to highlight the entire URL.
4. Press CTRL+C to copy it.
5. Press ESC or Enter to close the Hyperlink dialog box.
6. Paste the URL somewhere via CTRL + V.

VBA

Here's a VBA solution for those who can use it.

Create a VBA module with the following code:

Public Function GetURL(c As Range) As String
    On Error Resume Next
    GetURL = c.Hyperlinks(1).Address
End Function

To use, enter the following into any cell:

=GetURL(A1)

where A1 contains a hyperlink.

The function at work:

Answer 2

This may sounds like a brute force method, but it's the best way I've come up with. (I discovered this page when I had the same question myself an hour ago... you could spend all day looking, but sometimes it's just easier to do it and be done with it.)

1) Copy and paste just the cells containing the hyperlinks to a new spreadsheet.

2) Export the spreadsheet, click "Change File Type," select "Save As Another File Type" and save it as a web page (aka an HTML file).

3) Open the web page in your browser and view the source.

4) Copy and paste the source into an text editor.

5) Using the Find/Replace function of the text editor, remove the leading and trailing text of each hyperlink. (In other words, replace said text with nothing: "") Note that this text should be identical for each hyperlink.

6) You should now have a text file with nothing but hyperlinks. Copy and paste as needed back into your original spreadsheet or use however/wherever you wish.

Edited to state that you can actually export to a separate file that is HTM. Close the file out and reopen it in Excel again and it will solve the problem. The =Hyperlink formula is gone and the links are converted into regular links. This method saved me hours and was dead simple and I didn't have to deal with scripts or formulas or VBA or Macros.

Answer 3

I use a mac and this worked for me: highlight column you need to convert, on Insert menu, open "Hyperlink". Delete any text that appears in the Display box. It will say "[multiple cells selected]" if your display text is different across cells. Once you click OK, only the links will appear on your worksheet. If you need to convert individual cells rather than an entire column, highlight all cells that you need to convert, right click, select "edit hyperlink" and follow the same steps to delete the text in the Display box.

Answer 4

I'm sure there is with VBA however in the mean time right click, H, and copy and paste the address into the screen to display box

Answer 5

In the years since this question was asked Excel, someone at my firm added this =GetURL(cell) function to our global XLAM file and I thought it was part of base Excel. Here's the VBA...

Public Function GetURL(cell As Range, Optional default_value As Variant) As Variant
      Dim output As Variant
      If (cell.Range("A1").Hyperlinks.Count <> 1) Then
          output = default_value
      Else
          output = cell.Range("A1").Hyperlinks(1).Address
      End If
      GetURL = output
End Function