How to create absolute hyperlinks and relative hyperlinks in Word documents

Word automatically creates a hyperlink when you type the address of an existing Web page, such as www.microsoft.com, into a document. This behavior occurs only if you have not turned off the automatic formatting of hyperlinks functionality. You can also create customized hyperlinks to documents on a computer or on a network share. These hyperlinks can be absolute. Or, these hyperlinks can be relative to the Word document that you are working with.

By default, the Update links on save option in Web Options is turned on in Word. Therefore, when you create a hyperlink in a Word document, Word converts the hyperlink into a relative hyperlink.

Definitions and examples

• Hyperlink
  A hyperlink is colored and underlined text or a colored and underlined graphic that you click to open any one of the following items:
  • A file
  • A location in a file
  • A Web page on the Web
  • A Web page on an intranet
  • A Gopher, Telnet, or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site
  Additionally, you can click a hyperlink to view newsgroups.
  
  
• Absolute hyperlink
  An absolute hyperlink is a hyperlink that contains the full address of the destination file or of the Web site. The following address is an example of a full address in an absolute hyperlink:
  
  http://www.microsoft.com/support
  
  
• Hyperlink base
  A hyperlink base is the path that is shared by the file that contains the hyperlink and the destination file.
• Relative hyperlink
  A relative hyperlink is a hyperlink that contains an address that is relative to the address of the destination file. The address of the destination file is also known as the hyperlink base.
  
  
  
  For example, a document has the following hyperlink base:
  
  
  C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents
  A document that is named "Sales.doc" is located at the following file path:
  C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\April\Sales.doc
  The relative hyperlink to this document contains only the relative address to Sales.doc. Therefore, the relative hyperlink contains the following address:
  April\Sales.doc
  

How to use absolute hyperlinks instead of relative hyperlinks

To use absolute hyperlinks, perform one of the following actions:

• Use absolute hyperlinks in all Word documents. To do this, use one of the following methods.

  Method 1: Word 2010

  1. On the File menu, click Options.
     
  2. Click Advanced.
     
  3. Under General, click Web Options.
     
  4. Click the Files tab.
     
  5. Click to clear the Update links on save check box.
     
  6. Click OK two times.

  Method 2: Word 2007

  1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
     
  2. Click the Advanced.
     
  3. Under General, click Web Options.
     
  4. Click the Files tab.
     
  5. Click to clear the Update links on save check box.
     
  6. Click OK two times.
     
     

  Method 3: Word 2003

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
     
  2. Click the General tab.
     
  3. Click Web Options.
     
  4. Click the Files tab.
     
  5. Click to clear the Update links on save check box.
     
  6. Click OK two times.
     
     
• Use absolute hyperlinks in a single document. To do this, use one of the following methods.
  

  Method 1: Word 2010

  1. Open the document in which you want to use an absolute hyperlink.
     
  2. On the File menu, click Info.
  3. Click the Properties dropdown under the document window.
     
  4. Click Advanced Properties.
     
  5. Click the Summary tab.
     
  6. In the Hyperlink Base box, type x, and then click OK .
     

  Method 2: Word 2007

  1. Open the document in which you want to use an absolute hyperlink.
  2. Click the Microsoft Office Button, point to Prepare, and then click Properties.
  3. Click Document Properties, and then click Advanced Properties.
     
  4. Click the Summary tab.
     
  5. In the Hyperlink Base box, type x, and then click OK.
     
     

  Method 3: Word 2003

  1. Open the document in which you want to use an absolute hyperlink.
  2. On the File menu, click Properties.
  3. Click the Summary tab.
     
  4. In the Hyperlink Base box, type x, and then click OK.
     
     

How to reset hyperlinks

To reset existing hyperlinks in a document, follow these steps:

1. Open the document.
   
2. Right-click the hyperlink that you want to change, and then click Edit Hyperlink.
   
3. In the Look in box, click the document that you want the hyperlink to open. Or, type the URL address of the destination in the Address box.
   
4. Click OK.
   
   

How to set a hyperlink base

To set a hyperlink base for all the hyperlinks or the URLs in a document, use one of the following methods, as appropriate for your version of Word.

Method 1: Word 2010

1. Open the document in which you want to use an absolute hyperlink.
2. On the File menu, click Info.
   
3. Click the Properties dropdown under the document window.
   
4. Click Advanced Properties.
   
5. Click the Summary tab.
   
6. In the Hyperlink Base box, type the path that you want to use for all the hyperlinks that you create in this document.
   
7. Click OK .
   

Method 2: Word 2007

1. Open the document in which you want to set a hyperlink base.
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button, point to Prepare, and then click Properties.
3. Click Document Properties, and then click Advanced Properties.
   
4. Click the Summary tab.
   
5. In the Hyperlink Base box, type the path that you want to use for all the hyperlinks that you create in this document.
   
   
6. Click OK.

Method 3: Word 2003

1. Open the document for which you want to set a hyperlink base.
   
2. On the File menu, click Properties, and then click the Summary tab.
   
3. In the Hyperlink base box, type the path that you want to use for all the hyperlinks that you create in this document.
4. Click OK.

Note To override the hyperlink base, type the full address of the hyperlink in the Address box in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.