Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. 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: Changing What Is Pasted in a Dialog Box.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 4, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
Ihor wants to automate the inserting of a URL hyperlink into a Word document. The URL will be associated with a phrase, such as "click here". He first copies the URL of a specific website to the Clipboard. He then records a macro that opens the Insert Hyperlink dialog box (Ctrl+K) and pastes into the appropriate field the URL from the Clipboard (Ctrl+V) and clicks OK. When he later runs the macro, it gives him the same URL every time he runs it. Ihor wants to paste a different URL into the dialog box every time he runs the macro, but seems to be missing how to do that.
When you record a macro, it is very literal about what it does—it records exactly the steps you take, including how dialog boxes are filled out. The solution isn't to look for ways to paste new information into a dialog box, but to look at how you are creating your hyperlink. Here's what would be recorded if you inserted a hyperlink with the macro recorder running:
Sub Macro1() ' ' Macro1 Macro ' ' ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks.Add Anchor:=Selection.Range, Address:= _ "http://www.tips.net/", SubAddress:="", ScreenTip:="", TextToDisplay:= _ "click here" End Sub
What Ihor wants to change is the target for the hyperlink, which is assigned to the Address property; this is what gets "pasted" into the Address field of the dialog box. In order to do this, you could change your macro in a simple manner, such as this:
Sub Macro2() Dim sTemp As String sTemp = "http://www.tips.net/" ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks.Add Anchor:=Selection.Range, _ Address:= sTemp, SubAddress:="", ScreenTip:="", _ TextToDisplay:= "click here" End Sub
All that has been done in this example is delete some of the unnecessary comments at the beginning of the macro and create a string variable, sTemp, that now contains the target for the hyperlink. This variable is then assigned to the Address property. In order to change the target, then, one only needs to change the value of the sTemp variable—and there are a number of ways this can be done.
One way is to use an InputBox function to create your own dialog box, in this manner:
Sub Macro3() Dim sTemp As String Dim sPrompt As String Dim sTitle As String sPrompt = "Enter the target for the hyperlink" sTitle = "Hyperlink Destination" sTemp = "http://www.tips.net/" sTemp = InputBox(sPrompt, sTitle, sTemp) ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks.Add Anchor:=Selection.Range, _ Address:= sTemp, SubAddress:="", ScreenTip:="", _ TextToDisplay:= "click here" End Sub
Of course, Ihor mentioned that in his process he actually copies the URL to the Clipboard. If that is the process that he wants to use, it is possible to assign the URL based on whatever is in the Clipboard when the macro is run. Here's how you would do that:
Sub Macro4() Dim sTemp As String Dim MyData As DataObject Set MyData = New DataObject MyData.GetFromClipboard sTemp = Trim(MyData.GetText(1)) ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks.Add Anchor:=Selection.Range, _ Address:= sTemp, SubAddress:="", ScreenTip:="", _ TextToDisplay:= "click here" End Sub
In order to utilize the Clipboard in this manner, you'll need to set up a reference for the Microsoft Forms in the VBA Editor. (Choose References from the Tools menu in the Editor.)
Note, as well, that all these examples modify what is assigned to the Address property of your new hyperlink. There is a good chance that you'll want to change the macro to modify what is assigned to the TextToDisplay property, as well.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11906) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Changing What Is Pasted in a Dialog Box.
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2019-01-24 09:14:21
What i would like to do - is create a macro where I can change find the term and replace "NAME_FIRST" and replace it with the actual name of my client. Obviously each document had a different client name but the find NAME_FIRST remains the same throughout the client's document. So the client name can be found within the document in atable format, eg.
Student’s Name xxxxxxxx
Student’s Date of Birth xxxxxx
Customer Reference Number xxxxxxx
Student Contact Email xxxxxxxxx
So i would like to create a macro that will copy the student's name from the document and using the find and replace function have the student name replace the " NAME_FIRST" placeholder throughout the doument. Obviously, when i go a new doument, the student;'s name is different but the macro will paste the previous student name. Is there a way of changing this, so that it will paste the name of the student to for each new students document.
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