HYPERLINK function

This article describes the formula syntax and usage of the HYPERLINK function in Microsoft Excel.

Description

Creates a shortcut or jump that opens a document stored on a network server, an intranet, or the Internet. When you click the cell that contains the HYPERLINK function, Microsoft Excel opens the file that is stored at link_location.

Syntax

HYPERLINK(link_location, [friendly_name])

The HYPERLINK function syntax has the following arguments:

• Link_location    Required. The path and file name to the document to be opened. Link_location can refer to a place in a document — such as a specific cell or named range in an Excel worksheet or workbook, or to a bookmark in a Microsoft Word document. The path can be to a file that is stored on a hard disk drive. The path can also be a universal naming convention (UNC) path on a server (in Microsoft Excel for Windows) or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) path on the Internet or an intranet.
  
  Note   Excel Online the HYPERLINK function is valid for web addresses (URLs) only. Link_location can be a text string enclosed in quotation marks or a reference to a cell that contains the link as a text string.
  
  If the jump specified in link_location does not exist or cannot be navigated, an error appears when you click the cell.
  

• Friendly_name    Optional. The jump text or numeric value that is displayed in the cell. Friendly_name is displayed in blue and is underlined. If friendly_name is omitted, the cell displays the link_location as the jump text.
  
  Friendly_name can be a value, a text string, a name, or a cell that contains the jump text or value.
  
  If friendly_name returns an error value (for example, #VALUE!), the cell displays the error instead of the jump text.

Remark

In the Excel desktop application, to select a cell that contains a hyperlink without jumping to the hyperlink destination, click the cell and hold the mouse button until the pointer becomes a cross , then release the mouse button. In Excel Online, select a cell by clicking it when the pointer is an arrow; jump to the hyperlink destination by clicking when they pointer is a pointing hand.

Example

Copy the example data in the following table, and paste it in cell A1 of a new Excel worksheet. For formulas to show results, select them, press F2, and then press Enter. If you need to, you can adjust the column widths to see all the data.

Example	Result
=HYPERLINK("http://example.microsoft.com/report/budget report.xlsx", "Click for report")	Opens a workbook saved at http://example.microsoft.com/report. The cell displays "Click for report" as its jump text.
=HYPERLINK("[http://example.microsoft.com/report/budget report.xlsx]Annual!F10", D1)	Creates a hyperlink to cell F10 on the Annual worksheet in the workbook saved at http://example.microsoft.com/report. The cell on the worksheet that contains the hyperlink displays the contents of cell D1 as its jump text.
=HYPERLINK("[http://example.microsoft.com/report/budget report.xlsx]'First Quarter'!DeptTotal", "Click to see First Quarter Department Total")	Creates a hyperlink to the range named DeptTotal on the First Quarter worksheet in the workbook saved at http://example.microsoft.com/report. The cell on the worksheet that contains the hyperlink displays "Click to see First Quarter Department Total" as its jump text.
=HYPERLINK("http://example.microsoft.com/Annual Report.docx]QrtlyProfits", "Quarterly Profit Report")	To create a hyperlink to a specific location in a Word file, you use a bookmark to define the location you want to jump to in the file. This example creates a hyperlink to the bookmark QrtlyProfits in the file Annual Report.doc saved at http://example.microsoft.com.
=HYPERLINK("\\FINANCE\Statements\1stqtr.xlsx", D5)	Displays the contents of cell D5 as the jump text in the cell and opens the workbook saved on the FINANCE server in the Statements share. This example uses a UNC path.
=HYPERLINK("D:\FINANCE\1stqtr.xlsx", H10)	Opens the workbook 1stqtr.xlsx that is stored in the Finance directory on drive D, and displays the numeric value that is stored in cell H10.
=HYPERLINK("[C:\My Documents\Mybook.xlsx]Totals")	Creates a hyperlink to the Totals area in another (external) workbook, Mybook.xlsx.
=HYPERLINK("[Budget.xlsx]E56", E56)	To jump to a different sheet in the same workbook, include the name of the sheet, followed by an exclamation point (!), in the link. In the previous example, to create a link to cell E56 on the September sheet, include September! in the link.
=HYPERLINK($Z$1)	To quickly update all formulas in a worksheet that use a HYPERLINK function with the same arguments, you can place the link target in another cell on the same or another worksheet, and then use an absolute reference to that cell as the link_location in the HYPERLINK formulas. Changes that you make to the link target are immediately reflected in the HYPERLINK formulas.