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How to Copy Link on Excel

Written by ··Updated June 16, 2026

To copy a link in Excel, click the cell that holds the hyperlink and press Ctrl+C, then paste it wherever you need it with Ctrl+V. To see or copy only the underlying URL, right-click the cell and choose “Edit Hyperlink,” where the full web address appears in the Address field.

Copying and pasting links between different software applications and web pages is an essential task for many computer users. It saves time and makes work more efficient. In Microsoft Excel, linking to external data sources is a common practice. However, copying a link from Excel to another software application or the web can be a bit tricky, especially for some advanced users.

In this guide we provide simple step-by-step instructions on how to copy a link on Excel. Whether you want to link to a file saved on your computer, a web page, or an email, we will show you how to do it quickly and efficiently. We also cover the questions most people search for next: how to copy an existing hyperlink, how to extract the URL from a hyperlink, and how to build a link with the HYPERLINK function. By following these instructions, you will be able to copy links with ease and streamline your work.

If a cell already contains a hyperlink and you just want to reuse it, the fastest method is to copy the cell itself. Click the cell once to select it (don’t click directly on the link text, or Excel will try to follow it — click an adjacent cell first, then use the arrow keys, or click and immediately release). Press Ctrl+C, move to the destination cell, and press Ctrl+V. The hyperlink, its display text, and its formatting all come along.

If you only want the link’s address — not the cell — right-click the cell and choose “Edit Hyperlink” (or press Ctrl+K). The dialog box shows the full URL in the “Address” field. Select that text, press Ctrl+C to copy it, and click “Cancel” so you don’t accidentally change the link. You now have the raw URL on your clipboard to paste into a browser, an email, or another cell.

Extracting the URL Text from a Hyperlink in Excel

A common point of confusion: Excel has no built-in worksheet function that returns the URL behind a hyperlink. Functions like FORMULATEXT only return a formula’s text, and they work only when the link was created with the HYPERLINK function — they cannot read the address from a hyperlink you inserted manually with Insert > Link. So there is no single formula that pulls the URL out of every hyperlinked cell.

You have three reliable options instead:

  • The Edit Hyperlink route (manual, no setup): Right-click the cell, choose “Edit Hyperlink,” and copy the URL from the “Address” field as described above. This works for any hyperlink and needs nothing special.

  • FORMULATEXT (only for HYPERLINK-built links): If the cell uses a formula like =HYPERLINK("https://example.com","Visit"), then =FORMULATEXT(A1) returns the whole formula text. You can then strip out the URL with text functions, but this only works for formula-based links, not manually inserted ones.

  • A tiny VBA UDF (works for all hyperlinks): Because there is no native function, the only formula-style way to read a manually inserted hyperlink’s address is a short custom function. Press Alt+F11, insert a module, and add:

    Function GetURL(cell As Range) As String
    On Error Resume Next
    GetURL = cell.Hyperlinks(1).Address
End Function

    Then use =GetURL(A1) on the worksheet to return the address stored in cell A1. Save the workbook as macro-enabled (.xlsm) for this to persist.

Instead of inserting links by hand, you can generate them with a formula, which is ideal when the destination depends on other cell values. The syntax is =HYPERLINK(link_location, [friendly_name]). For example, =HYPERLINK("/","Learn Excel") displays the clickable text “Learn Excel” pointing to the site.

Because the address is just an argument, you can build it dynamically — for instance =HYPERLINK("https://example.com/report?id="&A2,"Open report "&A2) creates a different link on every row. For a full breakdown of arguments and edge cases, see our guide to the HYPERLINK function, and compare it with the manual approach in how to insert a link in Excel.

If you want to copy a link to a file in Excel, you first need to make sure that the file has a path. If it does, simply right-click on the cell containing the file’s name and select “Hyperlink.” This will open a dialogue box where you can paste the path. Once you’ve done that, click “OK.” When you click on the link, it will take you directly to the file. This is the same dialog covered in our walkthrough on how to add a hyperlink in Excel.

Copying a Link to a Web Page in Excel

Copying a link to a web page in Excel is straightforward. First, find the webpage you want to link to, and copy its URL. Then, select the cell where you want to create the link, right-click, and select “Hyperlink.” In the dialogue box, paste the URL into the “Address” field and give the link a name in the “Text to display” field. Once you’ve done that, click “OK.” When you click on the link, it will take you directly to the web page.

If you want to link an email address in Excel, just follow these simple steps. First, select the cell where you want to create the link. Then, right-click, select “Hyperlink,” and paste the email address into the “Address” field. In the “Text to display” field, type the name of the recipient or a descriptive phrase like “Click to email.” Once you’ve done that, click “OK.” When you click on the link, it will open a new email message with the recipient’s email address pre-filled in the “To” field. For a dedicated walkthrough, see how to embed an email in Excel.

If you want to link to a specific sheet or cell in Excel, the process is similar to copying a link to a file. First, select the cell you want to link to or the sheet name you want to link to. Then, right-click and select “Hyperlink.” In the dialogue box, you can select the “Place in this Document” tab and choose the sheet name or cell reference you want to link to. Once you’ve done that, give the link a name in the “Text to display” field, and click “OK.” When you click on the link, it will take you directly to the specific sheet or cell.

Once a link exists, moving it elsewhere is just copy and paste. Select the cell, press Ctrl+C, and paste it into another cell, a different worksheet tab, or even a separate workbook with Ctrl+V — the hyperlink travels intact. If you want the link to point somewhere new after pasting, right-click the pasted cell, choose “Edit Hyperlink,” and update the “Address” field. When you are consolidating data across tabs, it often helps to combine this with how to merge cells in Excel so the link sits cleanly in a header or label.

Benefits of Linking in Excel

Linking in Excel has several benefits that can save you time and effort in your work. For instance, linking allows you to connect data from different sources and keeps it up-to-date. This means that you can avoid manual data entry and reduce errors. Additionally, linking allows you to create reports or dashboards that automatically refresh with the latest data, making it easier to analyze and visualize trends. Finally, linking in Excel allows you to streamline workflows and collaborate with others by sharing links to relevant files or web pages.

Linking to Online Files in Excel

Linking to online files in Excel is straightforward and can be beneficial if you need to share a document or spreadsheet with colleagues or clients. To create a link to an online file, simply copy the URL of the file and paste it into Excel using the “Hyperlink” functionality, as described in the earlier sections. Some popular cloud storage services, such as Dropbox and Google Drive, also have built-in Excel integration, which allows you to link to files stored on their servers.

Linking to Images in Excel

Linking to images in Excel is useful if you want to add visual elements to your spreadsheets or presentations. To link to an image, first, insert the image into your Excel sheet using the “Insert” tab. Then, right-click on the image, select “Hyperlink,” and enter the URL of the image in the “Address” field. Once you’ve done that, click “OK.” When you click on the image, it will take you directly to the source of the image.

Linking is an essential feature in Excel that can save you time, effort, and reduce errors. Knowing how to copy links in Excel is a fundamental skill that can help you connect data from different sources, streamline your workflows, and create reports or dashboards that automatically refresh with the latest data. When a link has outlived its usefulness, you can clean it up just as easily — see how to remove a hyperlink in Excel. We hope that this article has provided you with the necessary steps to link files, web pages, email addresses, cells, and sheets, and that it has given you some additional tips on how to take advantage of linking in Excel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some frequently asked questions related to copying links in Excel:

Select the cell that contains the hyperlink (click an adjacent cell first and arrow over to it so you don’t accidentally open the link), press Ctrl+C, then click the destination cell and press Ctrl+V. The link, its display text, and its formatting are all copied together. To copy only the URL itself, right-click the cell, choose “Edit Hyperlink,” and copy the text in the “Address” field.

Excel has no native worksheet function that returns a hyperlink’s address, so you have two practical choices. For a one-off, right-click the cell, choose “Edit Hyperlink,” and copy the URL from the “Address” field. For many cells, add a short VBA function — Function GetURL(cell As Range) As String: GetURL = cell.Hyperlinks(1).Address: End Function — and call it with =GetURL(A1). FORMULATEXT only works if the link was built with the HYPERLINK function.

Yes. Select the cell where you want the link, right-click, and choose “Hyperlink.” In the dialog box, select “Place in This Document” on the left, type the cell range you want to link to in the “Type the cell reference” box, give the link a name in the “Text to Display” box, and click “OK.”

Yes. First copy the URL of the website you want to link to. Then in Excel, select the cell where you want to create the link, right-click, and choose “Hyperlink.” In the “Address” field of the dialog box, paste the URL, add descriptive text in the “Text to Display” field, and click “OK” to create the link.

Select the cell that contains the link, right-click, and choose “Edit Hyperlink” from the context menu (or press Ctrl+K). In the dialog box you can change the URL in the “Address” field or the text in the “Text to Display” field. Click “OK” to save your changes.

Yes. Select the cell where you want the link, right-click, and choose “Hyperlink.” In the “Address” field, type the email address you want to link to (Excel adds the mailto: prefix automatically), give the link a name in the “Text to Display” field, and click “OK.” Clicking the link opens a new message with the address pre-filled.

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