Sometimes, you might notice that there are clickable links within your documents. These links are commonly known as hyperlinks.
MS Word has an automatic feature that adds hyperlinks to words, especially when you type in or paste URLs.
Yet, there are instances wherein you having these works hyperlinked is unnecessary.
In this article, we’ll guide you through the different methods that you can use to remove hyperlinks.
3 Ways to Remove Hyperlinks in MS Word
- Using the Right-click + Remove Hyperlink command
- Using the Keyboard shortcut
- Using the AutoCorrect dialog box
Let’s get started!
Method 1: Using the Right-click + Remove Hyperlink command
You can use this method if you need to remove one or a small number of hyperlinks in your document. This method is best used if you intend to keep the other hyperlinks outside the ones that you want to remove.
Here are the steps on how you can do it.
Step 1: Browse and open your document.
Step 2: Look for the word or phrase that has the hyperlink that you need to remove.
You can determine whether a word or phrase has a hyperlink to it or not based on its appearance.
Notice if its font is blue and has an underline emphasis. If you find one, move your mouse cursor over it to confirm if it’s a hyperlink.
A tooltip with the address of a link will appear over the word or phrase if it is a hyperlink. Upon confirming, proceed to the next step.
Step 3: Right Click and Open the Context menu.
The Right-click context menu contains the command needed to remove the hyperlink. Display it by right-clicking over the word or phrase you have identified earlier.
Step 4: Click the Remove Hyperlink command.
From the Right-click context menu, click the Remove Hyperlink command. This will remove the hyperlink of the selected word.
Notice that the appearance of the selected word or phrase changes. This means that you have removed its hyperlink.
Method 2: Using the Keyboard shortcut
If you prefer a simpler and more time-saving method of removing hyperlinks, you can use this method. This is best applied for situations that require the removal of all hyperlinks in a document.
Step 1: Open the Document
Step 2: Select the entire or only partial content of the document.
Before proceeding, decide on the scope of the content that you wish to include in the process. You may want to include only a paragraph that needs to have its hyperlinks removed or you may highlight the entire document.
- To select a partial content only, you’ll need to highlight it. Do so by positioning your mouse cursor before the first letter of the first word that you will include. Click and drag your mouse cursor over the required section and release your mouse button.
- To select the entire document, highlight it by pressing Ctrl + A on your keyboard.
Step 3: Remove the hyperlinks by pressing the shortcut key.
With the content already selected, press the Ctrl + Shift + F9 keys simultaneously to remove all the hyperlinks.
Notice that the appearance of the clickable links changes. That should clear all the blue color and underline formatting. This means that you have successfully removed the hyperlinks.
Method 3: Using the AutoCorrect dialog box
MS Word automatically detects if you are typing a website URL. The usual behavior is that, upon typing and pressing the Spacebar or Enter key on your keyboard, a hyperlink will be added pointing to the URL. You may want to disable this feature by following the steps below.
Step 1: Open MS Word application.
Step 2: Open the Word Options window.
Upon launching your MS Word application, you need to open the Word Options window. You can do it by clicking the File tab and choose the Options command. You’ll find this at the top-left corner of your screen. Doing this will display a window similar to the image below.
Step 3: Open the AutoCorrect Options dialog box.
From the Word Options window, you need to find and click the AutoCorrect Options command. You can easily find this by clicking the Proofing option in the left bar. Upon doing so, click the AutoCorrect Options command to display the dialog box.
Step 4: Disable the Internet and network paths with hyperlinks option.
Once you display the AutoCorrect Options, you need to click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
This contains the option that you need to disable so that hyperlinks created by website URLs will not format automatically.
From this tab, look for the Internet and network paths with hyperlinks checkbox and uncheck it.
Step 4: Apply the changes made.
Finish your setting by clicking the OK button on the AutoCorrect dialog box. Also, hide the Word Options window by clicking its OK button. You can now type website URLs without the hyperlinks as you work on your documents.
Conclusion
We hope you found this article helpful!