Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Pasting a Hyperlink.

Pasting a Hyperlink

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 25, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

A common editing task is copying information from one document and pasting it in another. By using a minor variation on pasting, you can actually cause your pasted information to appear as a hyperlink in a document. To paste information in this manner, follow these steps:

Make sure that the document from which you want to copy is saved to disk. (If it is not saved, then Word cannot construct a hyperlink to the information in that document.)
Select the information to be copied and press Ctrl+C. This copies the information to the Clipboard.
Position the insertion pointer where you want the hyperlink to appear.
Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
Click the down-arrow under Paste in the Clipboard group, then choose Paste As Hyperlink.

The information appears as a hyperlink in the document. If you hold down the Ctrl key as you click on it, you are taken directly to the spot in the original document from which it was copied.

If you do not see a Paste As Hyperlink option in step 5, you can always display the Paste Special dialog box, which is available when you click the down-arrow under the Paste tool. In the dialog box you can click the Paste Link option and then choose Word Hyperlink from the available pasting methods. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Pasting a Word hyperlink.

Note that this tip is for establishing a hyperlink to information in a document, not for establishing a hyperlink to information on the Internet.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11756) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Pasting a Hyperlink.

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. Learn more about Allen...

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2025-02-25 04:11:48

Kiwerry

Thank you for this, Allen.
It seems that the source document must be open when you attempt to paste as a hyperlink.

Background:
When I tried it out, I found that the "Paste Link" option button in the Paste Special dialogue was greyed out as soon as I closed the source document; in order to reactivate it, it was necessary to reopen the source document and find, highlight and copy the text before trying again.

2021-05-01 09:08:11

Allen

The screen shot, shown in the tip, was pulled two days ago from the latest version of Office 365. If you cannot see the option, it could be the original document -- the one you want to copy from -- has not been saved to disk. (See step 1.)

-Allen

2021-05-01 09:06:59

Simao de Campos Neto

Sorry - I found my mistake.

I missed selecting the "Paste link" option, as you instructed.

Now it works as indicated.

Thanks!

2021-05-01 09:02:36

Simao de Campos Neto

Thanks Allen for this tip.

Unfortunately, I do not see the "Paste as hyperlink" at all in either the paste special menu or steps 4/5 you indicated above.

Is there a version or file format dependency? I have Office 365 enterprise, version 2103, and my test files were both using the latest docx format.

Thanks

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