Turning Off Hyperlink Activation

When you enter a Web address or a LAN server address of a file into an Excel cell, it automatically converts to a hyperlink when you leave the cell. This is part of the "Web-aware behavior" of Excel, first introduced in Excel 2000.

If you want to turn off the automatic conversion, you can follow these steps if you are using Excel 2007:

1. Click the Office button and then click Excel Options. Excel displays the Excel Options dialog box.
2. Click Proofing at the left of the dialog box.
3. Click the AutoCorrect Options button. Excel displays the AutoCorrect dialog box.
4. Make sure the AutoFormat As You Type tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
5. Clear the Internet and Network Paths With Hyperlinks check box.
6. Click OK.

The steps to follow are different if you are using Excel 2002 or Excel 2003:

1. Choose AutoCorrect Functions from the Tools menu. Excel displays the AutoCorrect dialog box.
2. Make sure the AutoFormat As You Type tab is selected.
3. Clear the Internet and Network Paths With Hyperlinks check box.
4. Click OK.

If you are using Excel 2000, your options are severely limited—Excel doesn't allow you to turn off the conversions. All you can do is press Ctrl+Z after the hyperlink is created, or preface your entry with an apostrophe so that Excel treats it as text. You can also create an application-level event handler—which is beyond the scope of ExcelTips—as described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, article 233073:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=233073