This is the first part in a series that describes how to use the Hyperlink tool in Microsoft Excel. In this part, we will be focusing on how to insert a link to a web page or file into a spreadsheet.

It can pretty much be assumed that 99% of the people you are working with have access to the internet at work. Because of this, linking to web page content has become a very common practice when creating almost any kind of work product. Also, with the advent of the LAN (Local Area Network), linking to files such as Microsoft Word documents has also become common. In Microsoft Excel, both of these tasks can be accomplished using the Hyperlink tool.

To open this tool, click on the icon circled in red below:

The following dialog will open:

The option that we will be discussing is circled in red and labeled with the number “1″. This option is what we will be using to link to web pages and other files.

Here is the breakdown for the rest of the components of this dialog:

2 - Text to display - This is the text that will display in the cell that the hyperlink is placed in. For example, if I was linking to “http://www.gmail.com”, I might use “Gmail” as the text for this link.

3 - Look in - I’m going to use this reference to talk about the icons below it as well as the drop-down box next to it. Basically, these are all shortcuts for selecting the link address you want to use instead of having to type it in. For example, you could use the Browsed Pages option to link to a page that you have recently visited. You could also use the drop-down box to browse to a directory for a file to link to.

4 - Address - Instead of using the Look in option described above, you can type the address in using this option. Use either the full web address (i.e. using “http://”) or the full file path (i.e. using “C:\”).

5 - Screen tip - This is the tool tip text that will be displayed when someone hovers over your link. Using a previous example, if I am linking to the Gmail webpage then I might put something like “Login to Gmail” as this text.

6 - Bookmark - I’m not terribly certain why this is here, simply because the Place in This Document option performs the same function as far as I can tell. Basically, this allows you to insert a link to another part of your spreadsheet or workbook. For example, if you are working on Sheet 1, you could link to the first cell in Sheet 2.

Once your link is completed, the user can click on it just like any other link and target will be opened in its native application. If you have linked to a web address, your default browser will open with that address. By the same token, a Microsoft Word document will open up in Microsoft Word.

Check back for Part II of this series where we will be going over how to use the Place in This Document option of the Hyperlink tool.

Update: Links to other parts: Part I Part II Part III.