How to use the AutoCorrect Options buttons in Excel

With the AutoCorrect Hyperlinks button in Microsoft Excel, you can use several options that are related to the process of typing hyperlinks in a cell. Unlike the other recovery options, the AutoCorrect Hyperlinks button always appears below the lower-left corner of the cell where you type the address.

How to Use AutoCorrect Options

When you click the AutoCorrect Hyperlinks button, three menu options become available: When you type a Web address into a worksheet cell, the default AutoCorrect action is to convert the text of the Web address to a hyperlink that points to the address. The Undo Hyperlink command converts the hyperlink back to text. If you click this command in error, the menu provides a Redo Hyperlink command that allows you to convert the text back to a hyperlink.

When you click the Stop Automatically Creating Hyperlinks command, the hyperlink that provided the AutoCorrect Hyperlinks button is converted to text, and the Replace as you type option to replace Internet and network paths with hyperlinks is not selected. As a result, all subsequent Web addresses typed in Excel remain as text, program-wide. To force Excel to replace Internet and network paths with hyperlinks again, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options.
2. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, click to select the Internet and network paths with hyperlinks check box on the AutoFormat As You Type tab, and then click OK.

The third menu option, Control AutoCorrect Options, allows you direct access to the AutoCorrect dialog box, so you may customize this and other AutoCorrect settings. This option is accessible by selecting AutoCorrect Options on the Tools menu as well.

How to Understand AutoCorrect Hyperlink Functionality

The AutoCorrect Hyperlink button behaves differently than the other smart tag buttons in several ways. As mentioned earlier, its lightweight interface is significantly smaller than the other smart tag buttons. In addition, although the other buttons are available only until some action places another event on the undo stack, the AutoCorrect Hyperlink button remains available until the file is closed, or until the hyperlink is converted to text.

This button is removed from the cell only if the cell is converted to text and some action is added to the undo list. When this scenario occurs, the AutoCorrect Hyperlink button is removed from that cell. Only by re-entering the text in the cell do you make the button available again for that cell. All AutoCorrect Hyperlink buttons are removed when the file is closed. When the file is reopened, the AutoCorrect Hyperlink button is not displayed on any hyperlink text that is already in the file.

For more information about how to use AutoCorrect Hyperlink smart tags and other smart tags in Excel, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type smart tags in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.