ScreenTips without Hyperlinks

Mark wants to have a ScreenTip appear when someone hovers the mouse pointer over a word in his document. The problem is, when he tries to create a ScreenTip using the Insert Hyperlink dialog box he can't create a ScreenTip unless he provides a destination (such as a path, bookmark, or URL). Without the destination, the OK button remains grayed out.

This behavior, as described, is built into Word and there doesn't seem to be a way around it. There are several workarounds that could be tried, but perhaps the best solution is to simply create a hyperlink that goes nowhere. Follow these steps:

1. Select the word or phrase that you want to activate the ScreenTip. (This would be the word or phrase that the person would hover the mouse pointer over in order to have the ScreenTip displayed.)
2. Choose the Bookmark option from the Insert menu. Word displays the Bookmark dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Bookmark dialog box.

3. Give the bookmark a name, such as Bk1, and click on Add.
4. While the word or phrase is still selected, press Ctrl+K. Word displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box.

5. Click the Place in This Document button at the left side of the dialog box. Word displays a list of locations.
6. In the list of locations, choose the name of the bookmark you created in step 3.
7. Click the ScreenTip button. Word displays the Set Hyperlink ScreenTip dialog box. (See Figure 3.)



Figure 3. The Set Hyperlink ScreenTip dialog box.

8. Type the text you want to use for your ScreenTip and click on OK.
9. Click OK to dismiss the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.

Now when someone hovers over the word or phrase (from step 1), the ScreenTip appears. If they decide to "follow" the hyperlink, all they do is end up right back at the bookmark you defined in step 3—your original word or phrase.

Of course, the phrase you selected when you created the hyperlink will appear as a link—normally blue underlined text. If you don't want this type of treatment, apply a different format to the hyperlinked phrase or change the characteristics of the Hyperlink style.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3779) 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: ScreenTips without Hyperlinks.