You cannot use a pound character in a file name for a hyperlink in an Office program (202261)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Access 2003
  • Microsoft Access 2002
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2000
  • Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2002
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2000
  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Word 2002
  • Microsoft Word 2000
This article was previously published under Q202261

SYMPTOMS

When you create a hyperlink to another file, the file name that appears in the hyperlink text may appear to be different than the actual file name. For example, a hyperlink to a file with the following file name:

C:\My Documents\Book#One.xls


may appear as follows:

C:\My Documents\Book - One.xls


Also, when you attempt to click the hyperlink, you may receive the following error message:
Cannot Open the Specified File.

CAUSE

These problems occur when the name of file to which you create the hyperlink contains a pound sign (#).

NOTE: The pound sign is a valid character to use in a file name but is not accepted in hyperlinks in Office documents.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

Rename the file with a name that does not include the pound sign, and then edit or recreate the hyperlink.

For more information about how to rename a file in Windows, see your Windows printed documentation or online Help.

To edit the hyperlink, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click the cell that contains the problem hyperlink. On the shortcut menu that appears, point to Hyperlink, and click Edit Hyperlink.
  2. In the Type the file or Web page name box, type the name of the file that you are linking to. If you do not know the name of the file, click File and browse to the file. Click OK.

Method 2

Use the Paste as Hyperlink command:
  1. Open the document that you are trying to link to (which contains the # sign in the name).
  2. Copy the cell that you want to link to.
  3. In your document, on the Edit menu, click Paste as Hyperlink.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/14/2006
Keywords:kbprb kbweb KB202261
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