Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2002 and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Getting Rid of the Ctrl+Click Message.

Getting Rid of the Ctrl+Click Message

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 29, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2002 and 2003


Other issues of WordTips have explained how to use the ScreenTips feature in Word to create pop-up screen help in a document. In some of the later versions of Word, when you move the mouse pointer over a hyperlink, you end up with a message that says "Use Ctrl+Click to Follow Link", which can detract from the use to which you want to put your ScreenTips.

This Ctrl+Click message was added to Word beginning with Word 2002. So how do you get rid of the message? It's really quite easy if you are using Word 2002 or Word 2003:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. You'll see the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Edit tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Edit tab of the Options dialog box.

  4. Clear the Use Ctrl+Click to Follow Hyperlink check box.
  5. Click on OK.

There is a drawback to clearing this option in Word: Not only is the Ctrl+Click message removed, but so is the need to Ctrl+Click. All it takes is a single click on the hyperlink to do the jump.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (444) applies to Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Getting Rid of the Ctrl+Click Message.

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. ...

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