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Cannot edit hyperlink using alt F9

Suppose that I wanted to edit a hyperlink in Word using the alt-F9 shortcut. By hitting alt-F9, the following would appear within my Word document:

{ HYPERLINK "http://www.aol.com" }

When this appeared, I would be able to then directly edit the link and the new link would remain after editing. For instance, if I wanted the new hyperlink to be MSN, would simple alter the above to:

{ HYPERLINK "http://www.msn.com" }

This method until recently has always seemed to work without flaws. However, just recently, I tried to do this and as soon as I changed "aol" to "msn" and my cursor exited the braces, it would immediately change back to the original. That is the edit would not stay.

I realize that in this simply exam I could simply exit alt-F9 mode and right click EDIT HYPERLINK and manually make the adjustment. However, this is not an option for me because the link must include a mergefield. That is, it will ultimately look something like this:

{ HYPERLINK "http://www.aol.com/{ MERGEFIELD PAGE }" }

Because of the problem I just described, as soon as I insert the mergefield into the link and my cursor leaves the braces, it reverts back to its original. 

I have no idea what is going wrong or what setting might have been changed. Any help would be appreciated.


I suspect the problem you're having here is that you're not differentiating between the display text (which changing the field code doesn't affect) and the URL.

 

As for the mailmerge, if you insert a mailmerge field into a hyperlink field, the hyperlinks will all show the first record’s address as the 'Text to display' text. Here's how you can get a mailmerge to display your preferred default 'Text to display' text instead:
1. Disregarding mergefield issues for the moment, insert a hyperlink into the document in the normal way, choosing whatever 'Click Here' text you want in the 'Text to display' box.
2. Select the inserted hyperlink and press Shift-F9 to expose its field code.
3. Replace everything in the field after 'HYPERLINK' with your mergefield.
4. Select the field and press F9 to update the display.
 
In Word 2007 & later, you can make the display text variable also, by following these additional steps:
5. Position the cursor anywhere within the display text.
6. Insert a mergefield pointing to whatever data field you want to use for the display text (this could even be the same field as used at step 3 above).
7. Delete all of the previous display text either side of your last-inserted mergefield (note that this field will likely have updated already).
8. Execute the merge.
9. After merging to a new document, use Ctrl-A, F9 to update all fields. Without this, the mergefield hover text won’t update to the correct targets.

Cheers
Paul Edstein
(Fmr MS MVP - Word)

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Macropod, thank you for your response. However, the problem isn't a differentiation issue. I uploaded a video on youtube so that you can clearly see how the edit immediately reverts back to the original when the cursor leaves the braces. Hopefully this better informs you of what is actually happening.

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That really is odd behaviour. Have you tried repairing the Office installation (via Programs & Features > Microsoft Office > Change in the Windows Control Panel)?
Cheers
Paul Edstein
(Fmr MS MVP - Word)

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Thank you! I was struggling with this issue and your response helped a lot. 

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I have found that when you edit the target of a hyperlink that has the URL as display text, not only do you have to edit both the underlying HYPERLINK field and the display text (as Macropod points out), but you also have to update the field after doing so. Until you do, when you hover over the link, you'll see it's still displaying the old target. I think this should be considered a bug, but at any rate it's useful to be aware of it.
Microsoft MVP (Word) since 1999
Fairhope, Alabama USA
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Last updated December 4, 2023 Views 3,369 Applies to: