In Excel: select the cell and press Ctrl+K (Insert ▸ Link) — or build one with a formula: =HYPERLINK("#Summary!A1","Go to Summary").
Click the cell that should carry the link.
Press Ctrl+K, or Insert ▸ Links ▸ Link.
Pick the target type: Existing File or Web Page, Place in This Document, Create New Document, or E-mail Address.
Set Text to display so the cell reads as a label rather than a raw URL.
For a computed target, skip the dialog and use =HYPERLINK(target, friendly_name) instead.
To remove one link right-click ▸ Remove Hyperlink; for a whole range use Home ▸ Editing ▸ Clear ▸ Remove Hyperlinks.
What this does
Excel has two kinds of link. A static hyperlink, added with Ctrl+K, is attached to the cell and survives being copied; the dialog's four tabs point it at a web address, a place in this document, a new document or an email address. The HYPERLINK function builds the link from a formula instead, so the target can be computed — which is what you need when the destination comes from a column of IDs. To remove links, right-click ▸ Remove Hyperlink, or select the range and use Home ▸ Clear ▸ Remove Hyperlinks for a whole block at once. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “remove links from 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 a formula is involved, keep the inputs labelled beside it, reference cells instead of typing values, and apply number formatting only after the result checks out. 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
Static: select A1, Ctrl+K, choose Place in This Document, pick the Summary sheet and cell A1, set the display text to "Go to Summary", OK. Computed: with a ticket ID in A2, =HYPERLINK("https://tracker.example.com/"&A2, A2) makes every row link to its own ticket, and filling it down updates each target. To stop Excel auto-linking typed addresses, use File ▸ Options ▸ Proofing ▸ AutoCorrect Options ▸ AutoFormat As You Type ▸ untick "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks". Links turn a multi-sheet workbook into something navigable — a contents page, a jump back to the summary, a row that opens the record it describes — and the formula version scales that to every row without manual work. One habit worth forming early: name the cells that hold your inputs, so the formula reads in plain language instead of a string of cell addresses. A reviewer — or you in three months — can then follow the logic without decoding what B7 and D2 were supposed to mean, which is most of what makes a sheet maintainable.
In Google Sheets
Google Sheets handles this almost identically to Excel. The formula syntax above is the same, and the menu lives under a slightly different label rather than a ribbon tab. Use the platform toggle at the top of the page to switch every keyboard shortcut between Windows and Mac, and expect at most cosmetic differences in naming. Nothing on this page is behind a login: the tool runs entirely in your browser, the formula is shown in full with one-click copy, and the steps work the same on Windows and Mac. That is the whole promise here — the exact answer, a way to prove it on your own numbers, and just enough context to make it stick. Treat “remove links from excel” as a small building block rather than a chore. Once the inputs sit in their own cells and the formula reads from them, the same setup answers a dozen related questions with a tweak, and Excel keeps every dependent figure current as the data changes. The tool above is there so you can rehearse and verify before committing anything to a real workbook; the steps and worked example are there so the logic sticks. Get it right once and it stops costing you time — it starts saving it, every time the question comes back around.
Common mistakes
- Linking to a file by its local path and sending the workbook to someone who cannot reach that drive.
- Forgetting the # in the
HYPERLINKtarget when jumping within the same workbook — "#Summary!A1", not "Summary!A1". - Deleting the visible text and assuming the link went with it; the hyperlink is attached to the cell, not the text.
- Renaming a sheet after linking to it — a static Place-in-This-Document link updates, but a
HYPERLINKformula holding the old name as text does not. - Clicking a cell to select it and triggering the link instead; click and hold, or use the arrow keys.
Frequently asked questions
How do I insert a hyperlink in Excel?
Select the cell and press Ctrl+K, or use Insert ▸ Link. Choose the target type, set the text to display, and click OK.
How do I link to another sheet in the same workbook?
Ctrl+K ▸ Place in This Document ▸ pick the sheet and type the cell reference. As a formula it is =HYPERLINK("#Sheet2!A1","Go"), and the # is required.
How do I remove all hyperlinks at once?
Select the range, then Home ▸ Editing ▸ Clear ▸ Remove Hyperlinks. Right-click ▸ Remove Hyperlink does one cell at a time.
How do I stop Excel turning typed addresses into links?
File ▸ Options ▸ Proofing ▸ AutoCorrect Options ▸ AutoFormat As You Type, and untick "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks".
Other ways people ask this
People reach this page typing “remove links from excel” and “how to remove link from excel”, among other phrasings; whichever wording you used, the fix above is the one you want.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “remove links from excel”, “how to remove link from excel” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.