Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 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: Closing Documents after a Hyperlink.

Closing Documents after a Hyperlink

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 25, 2017)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


When Tom hyperlinks from one Word document to another, he would like the previous document to close automatically. He notes that if he has several documents hyperlinking to several others, he can end up with quite a few Word documents open at the same time.

Believe it or not, this behavior is built into Word. Well, it has been built into Word since the advent of Word 2000. In Word 97, hyperlinks to new documents worked very similar to the way that Tom describes—the destination document would open in the same window that the source document previously occupied.

This change was a result of a user interface change implemented by Microsoft in Word 2000. You can read more about this behavior change here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224717

Thus, the behavior of current versions of Word relative to hyperlinks and new windows cannot be changed. You could, however, bypass hyperlinks all together and create some sort of macro or macro button to open the new document and close the old one. The ways in which you would implement such a workaround will depend on the names and locations of the documents you want to access.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (512) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Closing Documents after 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Turning Off Sharing

All good things must come to an end at some point. When you are done sharing your workbook with others, this is how you ...

Discover More

Printing Workbooks in a Folder

This tip presents two techniques you can use to print multiple workbooks all at the same time. Both techniques involve ...

Discover More

Highlighting Values that are 10x a Baseline Value

Sometimes the hardest part of getting your conditional formatting rules to work properly is figuring out the proper way ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Maintaining Proper Hyperlinks in Word 2000 and Later

Keeping hyperlinks properly working in a group of documents can be a challenge. Here's a way that you can make sure that ...

Discover More

ScreenTips without Hyperlinks

ScreenTips can be a helpful feature in some documents, but adding them also means you need to add a hyperlink. Here's a ...

Discover More

Keeping a Document Open After Hyperlinking

A solution to Hyperlinking closing your Word document in Word 97.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 6 - 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

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.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.