Word for Mac "Links" always grayed out

rpinsky12 40

iMac, Sequoia 15.7.2. MS Word 16.105.3: Even new Word documents have "Links" grayed-out under "Edit." I

try to exit Track Changes by clicking on the icon, treating it as a toggle: no effect. I think maybe it is

something other than Track Changes is the problem. Earlier versions of MS Word, no problem.

I have tried restarting Word and the iMac-- no effect.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author and recommended by moderator

Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.9K

The Edit> Links command is active only if the document contains links to external files, such as other Word documents or Excel Workbooks, It doesn't pertain to hyperlinks or links within the document & has no connection to the Track Changes feature.

What type of links are you trying to edit? Please explain what you are working with & what you're attempting to do.

rpinsky12 40 Reputation points

2026-02-07T20:40:34.41+00:00

Under "Edit" in Word for Mac, "Edit . . ." appears in the dropdown, just after "Find." "Edit" grayed-out, "Find" and much else is not. I want to be able to highlight text in a Word document and make a hyperlink. That has always been easy, in previous versions of Word. This present version 105.15.3-- not. To put it simply, why can't I add hyperlink? (Some sources say the problem, often, is interference from "Track Changes.::)

Answer accepted by question author

Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.9K

@rpinsky12

As I indicated earlier, the Links command in the Edit menu has nothing to do with Hyperlinks. In order to create a Hyperlink do either of the following:

Go to Insert> Hyperlink in the main menu, or
Use Link from the Links tool on the Insert tab of the Ribbon, or
Use the keyboard shortcut Command+K

To edit or modify a Hyperlink, right-click it & select from the options in the Hyperlink> submenu: User's image

0 comments

1 additional answer

John Korchok 232.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-06T18:45:03.97+00:00

Try creating a new user account (System Settings>Users & Groups), signing in to that, then testing if the problem still exists. If it goes away, it's an issue with the user profile part of your Office installation.

If the issue still exists, or you'd rather not move your user data to a new profile, try uninstalling Office following these steps: Uninstall Office for Mac Then reinstall from the Subscriptions page of your Microsoft account.
Was this answer helpful?
rpinsky12 40 Reputation points

2026-02-06T22:47:52.3866667+00:00

THank you, John. I created a new user, and for that user, too, "links" is grayed out. I will try reinstalling my Microsoft account.

Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.9K Reputation points

2026-02-07T00:46:55.0166667+00:00

If the document contains no OLE links to external sources reinstalling will not activate the Links command.
Sign in to comment

Use comments to ask for clarification, additional information, or improvements to the question.

Share via

Word for Mac "Links" always grayed out

1 additional answer

Your answer