In Excel: right-click the linked cell and choose Remove Hyperlink; for many cells, select the range and use Home ▸ Clear ▸ Remove Hyperlinks (or Clear Hyperlinks to keep the blue formatting). The cell text stays, only the link goes.
On this page7
Select the cell or range that contains the links.
Right-click and choose Remove Hyperlink (Remove Hyperlinks when several cells are selected).
Or use Home ▸ Clear ▸ Remove Hyperlinks; choose Clear Hyperlinks instead to keep the existing formatting.
For cells made with =HYPERLINK(...), copy them and paste back with Paste Values to keep only the text.
To stop Excel turning typed addresses into links, open File ▸ Options ▸ Proofing ▸ AutoCorrect Options ▸ AutoFormat As You Type and clear "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks".
What this does
Removing a hyperlink deletes the link target from a cell while leaving the text you see. Excel has two commands for it: Remove Hyperlink on the right-click menu for the selected cells, and Home ▸ Clear with Remove Hyperlinks (link and link formatting) or Clear Hyperlinks (link only). Links built with the HYPERLINK function are different — they are formulas, so the commands above do not touch them; you replace the formula with its value instead. Before you run it on a workbook other people depend on, try it on a copy or a few rows first. Undo only reaches back through the current session, so a quick trial run is the cheapest way to see exactly what will change before the file is saved and shared. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “delete links in excel”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected cells visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. The point is a data step that keeps your analysis trustworthy, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.
A worked example
Column B holds 40 pasted web addresses, all clickable. Select B2:B41, then Home ▸ Clear ▸ Remove Hyperlinks: every address is still there as plain text, none opens a browser, and the blue underline is gone. A cell that shows "Go to Summary" from =HYPERLINK("#Summary!A1","Go to Summary") keeps working until you copy it and use Paste Values, which leaves the text "Go to Summary" without a link. Pasted lists of addresses, emails and file paths arrive as clickable links that open a browser on every stray click. Removing the link while keeping the text makes the column safe to edit, sort and export. When the result is not what you expected, undo straight away rather than repairing it by hand — undo restores the sheet exactly, while manual fixes tend to leave small inconsistencies behind that surface later.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. Nothing on this page is behind a login or a download: the exact answer is at the top, and the detail below it is there for when you need it. That is the whole promise here — the answer first, and just enough context to make it stick. If you take one thing from this page on “delete links in excel”, make it the order of checks rather than the individual clicks: confirm what is selected, apply the step, and look at the result before moving on. That small routine is what keeps Excel work predictable when the same task comes back in a slightly different workbook.
Common mistakes
- Pressing Delete, which removes the text along with the link — Remove Hyperlink keeps the text.
- Expecting Remove Hyperlink to affect
HYPERLINK()formulas; they must be converted to values. - Clearing the link but not the AutoCorrect option, so the next typed web address becomes a link again.
- Confusing cell hyperlinks with links to other workbooks — those are managed from Data ▸ Edit Links, not from the Clear menu.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove all hyperlinks in a sheet at once?
Press Ctrl+A to select the whole sheet, then Home ▸ Clear ▸ Remove Hyperlinks. Formulas using HYPERLINK are not affected and need Paste Values.
Can I undo an automatic link right after typing it?
Yes — press Ctrl+Z immediately after Excel converts the address and the text stays without the link.
How do I remove links to other workbooks?
Those are external references, not hyperlinks. Use Data ▸ Queries & Connections ▸ Edit Links and choose Break Link, which converts the formulas to their current values.
How do I remove a link in Google Sheets?
Click the linked cell and use the Remove link button in the link preview that appears; the text stays in the cell.
Other ways people ask this
This is also commonly searched as “delete link in excel” and “delete excel links”. They describe the identical operation, so you are in the right place no matter how you phrased it.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “delete link in excel”, “delete excel links” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.