If you have a lot of hyperlinks in your document and you want to remove them all in one fell swoop, there is a simple way of doing this.
- Select all text by pressing Ctrl + A.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + F9.
This removes all hyperlinks that are scattered throughout the entire document. That’s how to remove all hyperlinks in word.
However, what about if you want to go through all of them one by one and then decide whether you want to remove them, edit them, or keep them. Keep reading to see how to do this.
What are Hyperlinks?
Simply put, hyperlinks are links that you click on that take you somewhere else. This can be within the document or to an external source. Generally in Word, in order to actually access the link, you have to hold down the Ctrl key and then click on it.
In order to add a hyperlink to your text simply select the text that you want to show the link on and then press Ctrl + k on your keyboard. This brings up the dialog box that you can use to put your link into.
How to Find Hyperlinks in Word
If you want to remove your links one by one then the best thing to do is to go through them. However, you don’t want to remove them all and searching through your document isn’t very easy. Unfortunately, there isn’t a super simple way of doing this in Word with the find feature. However, what we can do is to highlight each of them with a different color and then scroll through the document in order to easily go through them one by one.
How to Find Hyperlinks Method #1
- Press Alt + F9 to show the hyperlinks in your document. You will see it change from a normal link in purple of showing an actual link:
- Press Ctrl + F or click on the find button in the Home tab to bring up the Navigation panel:
- In the navigation panel that should appear on the left of your screen, type in ^d hyperlink.
- As you can see, all instances of the hyperlinks are displayed on the page:
- You can go through each of them in the document and correct them where you see fit.
This is by far the easiest way to find and correct all your hyperlinks.
How to Find Hyperlinks Method #2
- If you have any links you can see them by pressing the Alt + F9 keys together. This changes the link from what you see to what’s going on behind the scenes. (Obviously with a different hyperlink).
- On the Home menu in the Ribbon, click on Advanced Find:
- On the pop-up box type open the advanced settings and in the Find what box type in ^d hyperlink.
- Additionally, on the Reading highlight drop-down, select, Highlight all:
- Once you have selected Highlight All, all the hyperlinks in your document will look like they are redacted. This makes them stand out and then you can go through them one by one to determine whether you want to keep them, remove them, or edit them.
Once you have finished this you can go back and click on Clear Highlighting, and this removes the highlight.
If there are still a few that are stubbornly staying, check out my post on how to remove the highlighting.
How to Remove Hyperlinks in Word
Let’s split this into three different case scenarios:
How to Remove Hyperlinks in Word – Removing One Hyperlink
If you want to remove a hyperlink all you need to do is go to that link and right-click. On the pop-up menu that appears, simply select remove hyperlink:
You don’t need to highlight the word. Just putting your cursor in the link and right-click is sufficient in this case.
How to Remove Hyperlinks in Word – Removing Multiple Hyperlinks
If you need to remove several different hyperlinks you can do them one by one with the method above. However, if have a higher number, a bigger document that you need to go through I would recommend using the How to Find Hyperlinks Method #1 above and then just deleting the links from there one by one. It really depends on the time you have and the ease of use. I can’t say that one method is better than the other.
How to Remove Hyperlinks in Word – Removing All Hyperlinks
If you have to remove all hyperlinks or all hyperlinks in a section then the easiest way to do so is to select the text by dragging your curser of all the text that you want. If you need the whole document selected then press Ctrl + A. Then hold down the Alt + F9 keys on your keyboard and this will remove all the links from the selection or document.
How to Remove Underlines from Hyperlink in Word
If you want to remove the underline for your links or perhaps from just a few of them then do the following:
For just removing the odd one here and there:
- Select the text where the link is.
- On the Font section of the Home tab click on the little arrow in the corner to bring up the Font window:
- On the Font window, in the Underline style options, click on the (none) option and then press OK. This removes the underline from the link.
Remove Underline from All Links
- On the Styles menu in the Home tab of the Ribbon, click on the arrow to bring up the different styles. There you will see a style called Hyperlink:
- Right-click on it and then select Modify to bring up the Modify style box.
- Change the underline settings there and whatever else you fancy.
- Ensure that you select Only in this document and then press OK.
- All the underlines have been removed from your document.
How to Find Hidden Hyperlinks in Word
To find hidden hyperlinks in word the best thing to do is to show them with the method that I used above How to Find Hyperlinks Method #1:
- Press Alt + F9 to show the hyperlinks in your document.
- Press Ctrl + F or click on the find button in the Home tab to bring up the Navigation panel.
- In the navigation panel that should appear on the left of your screen, type in ^d hyperlink.
- You will then see all your hyperlinks in the document, even the hidden ones.
In Summary
I’ve gone through several different methods for finding and removing hyperlinks in your document. As well as this, I’ve shown you how you can style your hyperlinks, hide them, and find the hidden ones as well. I hope you have enjoyed this post and, as always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below and I’ll try my best to answer them for you. Good luck!