We keep a set of Word 2000 documents that are cross-hyperlinked, all in the same folder. All links are relative, using just the file name as a pointer with no path information. That way we can easily relocate this set of documents to other folders, networks, or servers without having to change the links.
When updating these documents, we first did a Save As to a temporary folder. When done updating, we copied the file back to the original folder. Without telling you, Word 2000 adjusts all the relative hyperlinks to point back to the original folder from the temporary folder when the Save As is performed. (In other words, the hyperlinks are transformed from relative to absolute, automatically.) Needless to say, the hyperlinks are then incorrect when the file is copied back to the original folder.
After much fruitless research with the Help system, the Microsoft Web site, Usenet, etc., I discovered accidentally that there is an option within Word that prevents automatically changing hyperlinks. Simply follow these steps:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1527) applies to Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003.
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!
Got a document that has a whole raft of e-mail address in it? You can easily convert all of them to clickable hyperlinks ...
Discover MoreWhen you insert a hyperlink, you expect it to look like, well, a hyperlink. But what if it really looks like some strange ...
Discover MoreWord allows you to embed active hyperlinks in your documents. If you later want to change or edit that hyperlink, you can ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2018-03-10 17:36:11
Richard Ong
I have a related problem.
I have a hyperlink in a document that opens (in WIndows Explorer) the subdirectory in which that document is saved. In other words, document "X" is in subdirectory "Content." When Explorer displays what's in "Content" I see a list of prior version of "X" that I can explore for previous work.
When the link behaves correctly it shows as "../Content" in the "Address" line of the "Edit Hyperlink" window.
The link will work ok for a period of time but then it won't. At which point the "Address" line shows this:
../../../../../../Computer%20-%20misc/Content
The "Computer - misc" subdirectory is one level down from the parent directory "Parent". (There is no "Content" subdirectory under "Computer - misc".)
The "Content" subdirectory is four levels down from "Parent".
In short, the corrupted file path goes to a different tree entirely, at the bottom of which is a nonexistent subdirectory "Content."
I am using Word 2003.
This MS page suggests the same solution, namely, make hyperlink addresses absolute:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/903163/how-to-create-absolute-hyperlinks-and-relative-hyperlinks-in-word-docu
Making the links use absolute addresses still displays a relative link: "../Content", but the text in the box when I hover over the link with my mouse pointer shows the long, absolute address.
Well, it's odd. I hope the tip solves this problem of the wandering relative hyperlink address.
Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
Visit the WordTips channel on YouTube
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2024 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments