Hyperlink and Network drives

[mikejvir]

Hello All,

I am seeing some peculiar behave and I assume someone has seen this.

I have and Excel spreadsheet (call it Summary.xlsx) on a company network drive (call it \\networkdrive\fold1\fold2). In a cell I create a hyperlink to a PDF file using \\networkdrive\fold1\fold2\fold3\file.xlsx.

When I send the file, Summary.xlsx, via Outlook, everyone can open the file, but the hyperlink is broke (File can not be opened). This is because the the hyperlink becomes

..\..\..\..\..\..\..\..\..\..\fold1\fold2\fold3\file.xlsx or
C:\fold1\fold2\fold3\file.xlsx

on a weird not. IF I tell the email recipients to go to folder \\networkdrive\fold1\fold2 and open file Summary.xlsx everything is fine. But I need to send the file via email.

I did try searching the forum but nothing looked similar, but that might be because I did not try i the proper keyword (s).

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Mike Virostko

 

[Candyman8019]

Are you creating a hyperlink with ctrl+k or with a formula?

 

[mikejvir]

Hi Candyman,

Actually I use the Right Mouse button and then hyperlink. This should be the same as CTRL-k. Then I build the address with the network folder and filename and use the filename as the Text to Display.

The only time there is an issue in opening the hyperlink in the file is after it goes through Outlook. There is no issue if someone opens the folder in File Explorer and clicks on the file to open it. The hyperlink works.


Mike Virostko

 

[Candyman8019]

Is the hyperlink based on a server path? Ie
\\servername\path\filename
Or is it based on a mapped drive such as
G:\path\filename

Could the end users have different mapped drives? If you email the pdf and they save it to their desktop first, does the link work then?

 

[Candyman8019]

A little digging and it sounds like your excel may be set for relative paths rather than absolute. Check out this link for more info.

How to create absolute hyperlinks and relative hyperlinks in Word documents - Microsoft Support

Describes how to create absolute and relative hyperlinks in Word 2003 documents and later versions of Word. Defines "hyperlink", "absolute hyperlink", "relative hyperlink", and "hyperlink base".

support.microsoft.com

Or

Sharing Absolute Path Hyperlinks [Solved] (Stop hyperlinks from changing to relative path)

By default, Excel changes hyperlinks to relative path. So, entering an absolute path in a link is generally a waste of time. Yes, you can write the link using the HYPERLINK() function, but that is a hassle. Here's how to force Excel to respect absolute paths... For a workbook: navigate to...

www.excelforum.com

 

[mikejvir]

A little digging and it sounds like your excel may be set for relative paths rather than absolute. Check out this link for more info.

How to create absolute hyperlinks and relative hyperlinks in Word documents - Microsoft Support

Describes how to create absolute and relative hyperlinks in Word 2003 documents and later versions of Word. Defines "hyperlink", "absolute hyperlink", "relative hyperlink", and "hyperlink base".

support.microsoft.com

Or

Sharing Absolute Path Hyperlinks [Solved] (Stop hyperlinks from changing to relative path)

By default, Excel changes hyperlinks to relative path. So, entering an absolute path in a link is generally a waste of time. Yes, you can write the link using the HYPERLINK() function, but that is a hassle. Here's how to force Excel to respect absolute paths... For a workbook: navigate to...

www.excelforum.com

Hi Candyman,

Thanks. I have forwarded the corrected spreadsheet. I will confirm with you tomorrow.

It should like this fault is defined as a "feature" in MIcrosoft view.

Mike Virostko

 

[mikejvir]

Hi Candyman,

That did not work. But we found the following this solution to work.

• Launch Excel.
• Under the File Menu item click on Options.
• Then click on Advanced.
• In the right window scroll down to the General section.
• Click on the Web Options.
• In the Web Options window click on the File tab.
• Finally unclick the “update links on save”.
• Click Ok

Thanks for your help.

Mike Virostko

 

[Candyman8019]

Ah! good stuff! Happy you got it sorted.