Links, bookmarks and cross-references

A link takes a reader to a web page, an email address or a place in the same document. A bookmark names a place in the document. A cross-reference repeats a bookmark’s words or its page number, and updates when they change.

Links and bookmarks are written in Word’s own format, so they work when the document is opened in Word.

Insert a link

1. Select the words that should become the link, or put the caret where the link should go.
2. Press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux), or click Insert › Links › Insert a link.
3. In the Insert a link dialog, check Text to show — the words a reader sees. It starts with the selected text.
4. In Address, type where the link goes.
5. Click Insert, or press Return.

The linked words turn blue and underlined.

If nothing was selected and you leave Text to show empty, the address itself becomes the text of the link. If you change Text to show, the words in the document are replaced with what you typed.

What you can type in Address

Edit or remove a link

1. Put the caret anywhere in the link.
2. Press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux), or click Insert › Links › Edit the link. The button is highlighted while the caret is in a link, and its tooltip shows where the link goes.
3. In the Edit the link dialog:
   • To change the link, edit Text to show or Address, then click Save.
   • To remove the link, click Remove link. The words stay; only the link is taken off.

The dialog works on the whole link, even if the caret is in the middle of it.

Follow a link

Clicking a link puts the caret in it, so you can edit the text. To follow a link, use one of these:

• Put the caret in the link, then click the Open button that appears in the Links group on the Insert tab. For a link to a bookmark, the button says Go to and the bookmark’s name.
• Right-click the link, then choose Open followed by the address, or Go to followed by the bookmark’s name.

A web or email link opens in the app your computer uses for that kind of address. A link to a bookmark moves the caret to the bookmark in this document.

If the address can’t be opened, the status bar says Could not open followed by the address. If a link points to a bookmark that doesn’t exist, the status bar says This document has no bookmark called and the name.

Bookmarks

A bookmark gives a name to a piece of text, or to a place, so that links and cross-references can point to it.

Add a bookmark

1. Select the words to bookmark, or put the caret at the place to mark.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click the bookmark button (the flag).
3. In the Bookmarks dialog, check the name in Bookmark name. Writer suggests one from the selected words, or from the paragraph at the caret.
4. Click Add, or press Return.

The status bar says Bookmarked as followed by the name.

The dialog tells you what you are bookmarking:

• “The selected text will be bookmarked.”
• “Nothing is selected, so this marks the place the caret is in. A bookmark over no text can be jumped to but not quoted by a cross-reference.”

Bookmark names

Word only navigates to bookmark names that follow its rules, so Writer adjusts the name you type:

• Only letters, digits and underscores are kept. Any other character — including a space — becomes an underscore.
• A name can’t start with a digit; Writer puts an underscore in front.
• Names are at most 40 characters; longer names are shortened.
• If the name is already used, Writer adds _2, _3 and so on.

Go to or delete a bookmark

1. On the Insert tab, click the bookmark button. When the caret is inside a bookmark, its tooltip says Bookmarks — the caret is in and the name.
2. In the Bookmarks dialog, find the bookmark in the list.
3. Click Go to to put the caret on it and close the dialog, or click the bin (Delete and the name) to delete it.
4. Click Close when you are done.

The list shows the bookmarks people made. Word’s own hidden bookmarks — for example the ones behind a table of contents — are kept in the file but not listed. When there are none, the dialog says “No bookmarks in this document yet.”

Bookmarks move with their text as you type, delete, split and join paragraphs. A bookmark can start in one paragraph and end in another.

Cross-references

A cross-reference is a field that shows either the words a bookmark covers or the number of the page the bookmark is on.

Insert a cross-reference

1. Put the caret where the reference should go.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Insert a cross-reference. The same button is in the Cross-references group on the References tab. It is dimmed until the document has a bookmark.
3. In the Cross-reference dialog, next to Refer to, choose The text or The page number.
4. Click a bookmark in the list. Each bookmark shows the words it covers, or “marks a place — no text to quote”.
5. Click Insert.

The text inserts the bookmark’s words. The page number inserts the page the bookmark starts on, worked out the same way as printing.

A cross-reference is saved as a Word field, so Word can update it too.

Update cross-references

Cross-references don’t change as you type. To bring them up to date:

1. On the References tab, in the Cross-references group, click the update button (Update every field — cross-references, page references and caption numbers — as F9 does in Word).

The status bar says Updated and the number of fields that changed, or Every field already said the right thing. The same command also renumbers captions and refreshes citations. It is one step to undo.

If the bookmark a cross-reference points to has been deleted, the reference shows Error! Bookmark not defined. after updating — the same wording Word uses.

Links in exports