How to Fix If Microsoft Excel Hyperlinks Not Working

Microsoft Excel is a popular and useful spreadsheet editor that has been developed by Microsoft itself for all major platforms like Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and iPadOS. It basically allows users to calculate or compute data, filter analysis, find exact values, graphing tools, pivot tables, etc. MS Excel comes under the Microsoft 365 Suite and also offers a hyperlinking feature to add a web location or device location. However, it seems that the Microsoft Excel Hyperlinks Not Working in some cases on the PC.

Now, if you’re also one of the victims to encounter such an issue then don’t worry. Hyperlinks mostly point to a web URL to redirect with the help of an anchor text. Otherwise, it’ll be slightly awkward to copy & paste the URL address and then open the same on a web browser. So, clicking on a hyperlink will directly open the default browser and redirect to the specific webpage. Unfortunately, several Excel users might go through several issues or errors while opening hyperlinks.

To be precise, the MS Excel hyperlinks don’t work due to several possible reasons such as the incorrect URL address, conflicts with the default browser setup, hyperlink path being changed, update links on save option is turned on, pound sign on the hyperlink text, abrupt exit of the spreadsheet or computer, etc. Affected users might get ‘Cannot open the specified file.’ or ‘This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please get in touch with your system administrator.’ errors.

Luckily, here we’ve shared with you some workarounds that should come in handy. Make sure to follow all methods until the problem has been fixed. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it.

1. Restart the PC

It would be best if you tried restarting the PC to ensure there is no issue with the temporary system glitch or cache data. Some of the users have found this trick useful.

2. Turn Off the Update Links on Save Option

You can also disable the ‘update links on save’ option manually from the MS Excel program to fix the hyperlinks not working issue. You can check the following steps to do so:

Open an MS Excel file.
Click on the File tab at the top left side.
Go to Options > Click on Advanced.
Scroll down to locate and click on Web Options.
Go to the Files section and uncheck the Update links on the save option.
Click on OK to apply changes.
Then, check if the problem has been fixed or not.

3. Edit or Reinsert the Hyperlink

The chances are high that the hyperlink URL is incorrect or incomplete enough to open any link/webpage. It’s always a better idea to cross-check the hyperlink URL properly. Make sure to edit the URL and correct it or reinsert the link again. Sometimes you may have changed the file location of the inserted link which can also cause hyperlink opening issues.

Open File Explorer > Now, copy the link of the file or URL address from the address bar.
Now, open the MS Excel file > Right-click on the hyperlink.
Click on Edit Hyperlink > Paste the URL address on the field and click on OK.
- Otherwise, you can click on Remove Hyperlinks and reinsert the correct link.

4. Try Renaming the Anchor Text

Make sure to rename the anchor text of the hyperlink to remove any special character such as (#), which is also known as a pound sign. After renaming the anchor text, make sure to update the hyperlink accordingly. Some of the users did report that removing the pound sign from the hyperlink text on MS Excel has done the job.

5. Repair Microsoft Office

Last but not least, try repairing the Microsoft Office program that has fixed the Excel hyperlink not working issue on Windows. Sometimes the corrupted Excel workbook might trigger such an issue. Mostly the abrupt exit of the Excel spreadsheet or the restart of the computer causes it. There is a reliable repair tool available in the market called ‘MS Excel Repair Tool’ which can easily repair corrupted or damaged Excel files as well as the Excel application. You can also check out this full-depth guide for more info on Excel repair and available tools.

That’s it, guys. We hope this guide was helpful to you. Feel free to comment below for further queries.

How to Fix If Microsoft Excel Hyperlinks Not Working