Insert and Manage Links or Hyperlinks to Create Interactive PowerPoint Presentations

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated October 14, 2022

Applies to: Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 365 (Windows)

You can easily add links or hyperlinks in PowerPoint presentations to add interactivity and make it easy for users to click a button or link to jump to another slide in your deck, to another presentation, to an Excel file or to a web site. You can edit hyperlinks at any time and remove hyperlinks if necessary. In PowerPoint, hyperlinks become active when you run a slide show (normally by clicking the Slide Show button on the bottom right of the screen). In newer versions of PowerPoint, the term link is used as an alternative to hyperlink (although the dialog box displays Hyperlink).

Hyperlinks can be displayed as full source URLs or internet addresses such as http://abccompany.ca, as descriptive text, as an image or as a shape.

In this article, we'll be using the Link or Hyperlink command to insert hyperlinks, not Action Settings (an alternative method for adding hyperlinks).

Recommended article: How to Crop a Picture in PowerPoint (4 Ways)

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Insert a text hyperlink

If you select text and use it as a hyperlink on a PowerPoint slide, it appears underlined and in a color (normally blue) and coordinates with the color theme in your document. The text color changes automatically after you click hyperlink text in a slide show (again based on color theme settings). Shapes or images with hyperlinks do not change color.

Insert a hyperlink to a slide in the current presentation

To insert a link or hyperlink to a slide in the current presentation:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink. If you are using a shape that contains text, click its edge.
  2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
  3. In the Links group, click Link or Hyperlink. You can also press Ctrl + K. The Edit Hyperlink dialog appears.
  4. Under Link to, select Place in This Document.
  5. Under Select a place in this document, select the slide you'd like to link to.
  6. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display box (if necessary).
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click Slide Show on the bottom right of the screen to run your slide show. You can also press Shift + F5.
  9. Click the link to test it.
  10. Press ESC to exit the slide show.

Below is the Edit Hyperlink dialog box with a link to another slide in the current presentation:

Insert hyperlink dialog box to link to another slide in a PowerPoint presentation.

Insert a hyperlink to another PowerPoint presentation

To insert a link or hyperlink to another PowerPoint presentation:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink. If you are using a shape that contains text, click its edge.
  2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
  3. In the Links group, click Link or Hyperlink. You can also press Ctrl + K. The Edit Hyperlink dialog appears.
  4. Under Link to, select Existing File or Web Page.
  5. Click Browse (yellow file folder icon).
  6. Navigate to the other presentation and double-click it.
  7. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display box (if necessary).
  8. Click OK.
  9. Click Slide Show on the bottom right of the screen to run your slide show. You can also press Shift + F5.
  10. Click the link to test it.
  11. Press ESC to exit the slide show.

Below is the Edit Hyperlink dialog box with a link to another presentation:

Hyperlink dialog box with link to another presentation.

Insert a hyperlink to an Excel workbook

To insert a link or hyperlink to an Excel workbook:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink. If you are using a shape that contains text, click its edge.
  2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
  3. In the Links group, click Link or Hyperlink. You can also press Ctrl + K. The Edit Hyperlink dialog appears.
  4. Under Link to, select Existing File or Web Page.
  5. Click Browse (yellow file folder icon).
  6. Navigate to the Excel workbook and double-click it.
  7. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display box (if necessary).
  8. Click OK.
  9. Click Slide Show on the bottom right of the screen to run your slide show. You can also press Shift + F5.
  10. Click the link to test it.
  11. Press ESC to exit the slide show.

Below is the Edit Hyperlink dialog box with a link to an Excel workbook:

PowerPoint hyperlink dialog box with link to an Excel workbook.

Use relative or absolute addresses to external files

If you are creating hyperlinks to external files such as another PowerPoint presentation or an Excel workbook, it's important to understand the difference between a relative and absolute address. A relative hyperlink uses the address relative to the address of the containing document whereas an absolute hyperlink uses the full address of the destination document including the drive location.

The following example uses an absolute hyperlink address (full path address):

C:\Documents\January\Budget.docx

The following relative hyperlink contains only the relative address or path to a Budget document in the same folder as the presentation.

January\Budget.docx

You may want to use a relative hyperlink address or path if you want to move or to copy your files to another location such as another server.

Insert a hyperlink to a web site

To insert a link or hyperlink to a web site:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink. If you are using a shape that contains text, click its edge.
  2. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon.
  3. In the Links group, click Link or Hyperlink. You can also press Ctrl + K. The Edit Hyperlink dialog appears.
  4. Under Link to, select Existing File or Web Page.
  5. In the Address box, enter the web address or url. You can also copy the web address from a browser or select from the drop-down menu of recent web sites.
  6. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display box (if necessary).
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click Slide Show on the bottom right of the screen to run your slide show. You can also press Shift + F5.
  9. Click the link to test it.
  10. Press ESC to exit the slide show.

Below is the Edit Hyperlink dialog box with a link to a web site:

PowerPoint hyperlink dialog box with link to web site.

Create a hyperlink using the context menu

Another method of creating or editing hyperlinks is to right-click and use the context menu (you can also press Shift + F10 to display the context menu).

To insert a hyperlink using the context menu:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, select the text, shape or image you want to use as a hyperlink. If you are using a shape that contains text, click its edge.
  2. Right-click and choose Link or Hyperlink from the dropd-down menu and then select Insert Hyperlink or Insert Link. The hyperlink dialog appears.
  3. Select the appropriate option under Link to. If you are creating an external link to a webpage or another document, select Existing File or Web Page. If you are creating an internal link within the document, select Place in This Document.
  4. If you are using a text hyperlink, enter the descriptive text that will become the link text in the Text to display box (if necessary).
  5. In the address field, enter or choose the address or location where the link should lead. For external references, enter or copy the URL in the Address field. For place in the same document, select the appropriate item.
  6. Click OK.

Jump to a hyperlink location

Hyperlinks become active when you run a slide show or save your presentation as a PDF (portable document format). Simply click the hyperlink to jump to the hyperlink location.

Edit a hyperlink

To edit a hyperlink:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, right-click the hyperlink and select Edit Hyperlink or Edit Link from the drop-down menu. The Hyperlink dialog box appears.
  2. Select the desired options.
  3. Click OK.

You can also select a hyperlink and press Ctrl + K to edit it.

Create a screen tip

You can also create a screen tip that will pop up when you hover over a hyperlink during a slide show.

To create a screen tip for an existing hyperlink:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, right-click the hyperlink.and select Edit Hyperlink or Edit Link from the drop-down menu. The Edit Hyperlink dialog box appears.
  2. Click ScreenTip (on the top right). A dialog box appears.
  3. Enter a screen tip.
  4. Click OK twice.

Remove a hyperlink

To remove a hyperlink:

  1. In Normal View or Slide Master View, right-click the hyperlink you want to remove.
  2. In the context menu, select Remove Hyperlink or Remove Link.

Hyperlinks can add a new dimension of interactivity to your decks and when a PowerPoint file is saved as a PDF, they become active hyperlinks.

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More resources

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Summary
How to Hyperlink in PowerPoint (Insert, Remove or Edit Links)
Article Name
How to Hyperlink in PowerPoint (Insert, Remove or Edit Links)
Description
You can easily add links or hyperlinks in PowerPoint presentations to add interactivity and make it easy for users to click a button or link to jump to another slide in your deck, to another presentation, to an Excel file or to a web site. You can edit hyperlinks at any time and remove hyperlinks if necessary. In PowerPoint, hyperlinks become active when you run a slide show.
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Avantix Learning

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