Newer versions of Microsoft Word are Internet-aware. When you type in a Web site address or e-mail address by default, Word turns this Internet-related text into a hyperlink so you can automatically launch your browser or e-mail program. This type of auto-feature is rarely useful to me and most of the time just drives me nuts. Many times, I want a hyperlink to be just plain, old boring text. In other words, I don’t want the blue or underlining, and I’m never going to click it. (Plus, if you import Word files into a desktop publishing program, you know that extra formatting can cause problems!)
So the question is, how do you make Word stop autoformatting hyperlinks? The procedure is slightly different in Word 2000 and Word XP, but in both cases, you need to change options in two places. In Word 2000, choose Tools|AutoCorrect. (In Word XP, you choose Tools|AutoCorrect Options instead.) In the Autoformat as you Type tab, click to remove the checkmark next to Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.
Now click the AutoFormat tab. Click to remove the checkmark next to Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.
Now Word won’t automatically format your hyperlinks and e-mail addresses. That’s a huge relief for some of us, but the change only affects new documents. It doesn’t fix hyperlinks that are already in your document.
Making a hyperlink or e-mail address plain, old text means you have to tell Word that you don’t want it to be a field. To change the hyperlink, highlight it and press Ctrl+Shift+F9 to unlink the field. (Yes, you use the F9 function key on the top row of your keyboard.) The hyperlink turns to plain text. If there is still unwanted extra formatting, press Ctrl+spacebar to remove it.