How Do I Change All Links in Word?

You can change all links in a Word document by using the Find and Replace feature after revealing the underlying hyperlink field codes.

Changing multiple links in a Word document efficiently often requires interacting with the hidden field codes that define hyperlinks. Here's a direct method utilizing Word's built-in tools, based on the provided reference. This technique is particularly useful for replacing parts of URLs across numerous links, such as updating a domain name or changing 'http' to 'https'.

Method: Using Find and Replace with Field Codes

Hyperlinks in Word are controlled by field codes like { HYPERLINK "Your URL Here" }. To change the URL itself using Find and Replace, you first need to display these codes instead of the clickable link text.

Follow these steps:

1. Show Field Codes: Press Alt+F9. This toggles the display in your document, showing field codes for items like hyperlinks, page numbers, etc., instead of their results. Your document will likely look quite different.
2. Open Find and Replace: Press Ctrl+H (or Ctrl+L). This opens the "Find and Replace" dialog box.
3. Define What to Find: In the Find what: box, enter the specific portion of the link you wish to change. For example, if you want to change http://olddomain.com to https://newdomain.net, you might enter http://olddomain.com.
4. Define Replacement Text: In the Replace with: box, enter the new portion of the link that should replace the text you entered in the "Find what" box. Using the example above, you would enter https://newdomain.net.
5. Perform the Replacement: Click the Replace All button. Word will then find all instances of the text in the "Find what" box within the visible field codes (which now include your URLs) and replace them with the text from the "Replace with" box.
6. Close Dialog: Close the "Find and Replace" dialog box.
7. Show Link Results: Press Alt+F9 again. This toggles the display back, showing the clickable link text results instead of the field codes. Your links should now reflect the changes made to the URLs.
8. Select Document: Select the entire document by pressing Ctrl+A. (Note: While the reference includes this step, the core replacement happens in steps 1-6. Selecting the document and pressing F9 would typically update all fields, which can be a good practice after manipulating them).

This process directly edits the URL strings within the hyperlink fields, allowing for quick, document-wide updates to your links.