Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Creating Hyperlinks from E-mail Addresses.

Creating Hyperlinks from E-mail Addresses

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 5, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010


2

Simon asked how he could get a list of his Outlook contacts saved as a Web page, using Word. He used Word's mail-merge feature to extract the Outlook address book into a document, but when he converted the document to a Web page, the e-mail addresses were not "clickable."

The easiest way to convert the actual e-mail addresses to hyperlinks is to use Word's AutoFormat feature. All you need to do is make sure that AutoFormat is correctly configured, and then it will convert all the e-mail addresses to usable links.

Unfortunately, the AutoFormat feature isn't directly accessible in Word—you need to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar. Follow these steps:

  1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. Select the Customize option (Word 2007) or Quick Access Toolbar option (Word 2010) at the left side of the dialog box.
  3. Using the Choose Commands From drop-down list, choose Commands Not In The Ribbon.
  4. Scroll through the list of available commands and choose AutoFormat.
  5. Click the Add button. The command is moved to the list at the right of the dialog box.
  6. Click OK. The command now appears in the Quick Access Toolbar, to the right of the Office button and just above the ribbon.

To use the AutoFormat feature, follow these steps:

  1. Click the AutoFormat tool that you earlier added to the Quick Access toolbar. Word displays the AutoFormat dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  2. Figure 1. The AutoFormat dialog box.

  3. Click on the Options button. Word displays the AutoFormat tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  4. Figure 2. The AutoFormat tab of the AutoCorrect dialog box.

  5. Make sure that the Internet and Network Paths with Hyperlinks check box is selected.
  6. Click on OK to close the AutoCorrect dialog box.
  7. Click on OK. Word "autoformats" your document, changing the e-mail addresses to hyperlinks in the process.

If you want to make sure that AutoFormat doesn't change anything else in your document, you can do that by making sure, in step 3, that all check boxes are cleared, except for the Internet and Network Paths with Hyperlinks check box.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11490) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Creating Hyperlinks from E-mail Addresses.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Patterns of Numbers with a Formula

Want to create a sequential pattern using formulas? It's easy to do if you take a look at how your data repeats. This tip ...

Discover More

Breaking Up Variable-Length Part Numbers

Part numbers can often be long, made up of other component elements. Breaking up part numbers into individual components ...

Discover More

Creating Special, Compound Characters

If you have a need for special characters (particularly in technical documents), Word provides a couple of ways you can ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Getting Rid of the Ctrl+Click Message

When you add a hyperlink to a document, you can later click that link to display whatever is linked to. Well, you ...

Discover More

Counting Internal Links

Word allows you to easily add hyperlinks to your documents. These links can be to either a bookmark within your document ...

Discover More

Pasting a Hyperlink

When you paste information into a document, you can specify that it be inserted as a hyperlink rather than as normal ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 1 + 0?

2017-01-09 21:50:49

Steve Margulis

Thank you for your straightforward answer to a problem that long bothered me. I would suggest that you add to your steps that after the user pastes a URL, the user should mark it, then click on/open the AutoFormat icon, and click OK. That's when the URL becomes a hyperlink. If that is not made clear to the user, the user might think there was something wrong with the instructions you provided, or with following the instructions, or with AutoFormat.... That said, many thanks for the help.


2015-01-19 09:02:31

Romesh

Dear Sir,

Also pls make sure that in the "AutoCorrect" dialog box "AutoFormatAsYouType" tab is clicked and the ckeck box "internet and network path with hyperlink" is ticked.

Rgds,


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.