[Fixed!] Hyperlinks in Excel Not Working After Saving (5 Solutions)

We often use hyperlinks in Excel for many purposes but sometimes in some particular cases, it may not work. There are some common issues for that. In this article, I’ll explain them and show 5 effective fixes if hyperlinks in Excel are not working after saving.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the free Excel template from here and practice on your own.

5 Fixes: Hyperlinks in Excel Not Working After Saving

To explore the fixes, we’ll use the following dataset that represents some online article links as PDF.

1. Fix the Filepath

Let’s click on the first link from the dataset and see what happens.

It’s showing an error message. What can be the reason?

Let’s check the hyperlink to see if there is anything wrong or not.

• Right-click your mouse on the link.
• Select Edit Hyperlink from the Context menu.

Soon after, you will get a dialog box.

Have a look, there are some unwanted characters (%) in the link address.

It may happen if your Excel file gets closed abruptly for PC issues like- load shedding or hard disc crash.

Solution:

• Just remove the unwanted characters from the address and press OK.

Then click on the link again and the linked file will open up.

2. Change the Drive Name

Here, I am getting the same error message after clicking on the link.

For this problem, another common reason is- that maybe the drive name is changed where your file is located. And for that Excel failed to open the file.

To check it-

• Right-click your mouse on the link and select Edit Hyperlink from the Context Menu.

A dialog box will pop up. Look at the Address Bar.

See that here the drive name is- M.

But my file is in drive E. That’s why I couldn’t open the file.

Solution:

• Change the name to the current drive name- E.
• Finally, just press OK.

Then the hyperlink will work properly and the file will be opened.

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3. Uncheck Update Links on Save Option

There is a built-in option in Excel, for which hyperlinks may not work properly. The option is called- Update Links on Save. This option updates the links whenever we save our files. And for enabling this option, hyperlinks may not work in Excel. So we’ll have to uncheck it.

Solution:

• Click on File beside the Home tab.

• Later, click on Options.

Soon after, a dialog box named Excel Options will appear.

• After that, click Advanced ➤ Web Options and another dialog box will open up.

• Now open the Files section.
• Then unmark the Update links on save option.
• Press OK.

And it will take you back to the first dialog box.

• Nothing to do more, just press OK again.

Hope your link will work then.

Read More: How to Update Hyperlink in Excel Automatically (2 Ways)

4. Rename Excel Worksheet Or Create New Hyperlink

After creating a hyperlink by linking from another sheet, if you change the source sheet name then your hyperlink won’t work.

This issue doesn’t happen in Excel 365. It may happen in Excel older versions.

Solution:

• Create the hyperlinks again.
• Or change the sheet name to the previous name.

Read More: How to Create a Hyperlink in Excel (5 Easy Ways)

5. Repair Corrupted Workbook

Sometimes it also happens that your workbook may be corrupted. And if it gets corrupted then you won’t be able to perform many tasks including hyperlink issues.

Solution:

• Recover your file if you have any backup.
• Or there are many repair tools available online, you can try them.

Practice Section

You will get a practice sheet in the Excel file given above to practice the explained ways.

Conclusion

I hope the procedures described above will be good enough to fix hyperlinks not working problem in Excel after saving. Feel free to ask any question in the comment section and please give me feedback.

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