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Hyperlinks Do Not Work When Converting From .DOC To a .DOCX

Anonymous
2018-07-03T14:48:28+00:00

To anyone,

I have a file that has been in use since 2003 and since then it has undergone many changes via track changes and comments. We always updated the hyperlinks that are within the file every time there is a change. Currently, we decided to upgrade the document from the 97-2003 version of Word Document to the newest one available (.doc to .docx) since we have equations now embedded in the document itself. Unfortunately, by doing so, ALL the Hyperlinks within the file stopped working and are not linked to their destination. It is not a small file. The document is over 1000 pages with an unknown amount of hyperlinks. FYI, bookmarks are still in the document and they are still working. Re-doing every single hyperlink will take a very long time. Is there a way to preserve the hyperlinks when converting to .doc to .docx?

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-07-05T13:27:43+00:00

    I was asking for a sample because I was going to see if I could write a macro for you that would locate the hyperlink in the source (doc) file and then locate the same link in the new (docx) file and programmatically replace the link.

    I needed something to test with. One or two pages with links would do.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-07-05T12:49:59+00:00

    I cannot provide a sample of the document.

    For the hyperlinks, I created a bookmark inside the document and then created a hyperlink that sends me to the bookmark.

    All of the bookmarks are still inside the document, they were not deleted. The problem is the hyperlinks stop working and I have to re-create them in order to direct me to the bookmarks.

    The 97-2003 documents, all of the hyperlinks work perfectly. When I do a save as and upgrade the document to the newest version (.docs) all of the hyperlinks are "broken" or "unlinked".

    We cannot keep the file as a 97-2003 (.doc) document because we cannot use the create Equation on Word unless we pay for an additional program. Is best to upgrade.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-07-04T02:17:45+00:00

    Maybe a macro could be written that read the original file, picked up the relevant info and reapply the data to the new document ... do you have a small sample of before and after hyperlink locations that you could send me?

    My email address is in my signature line. Make sure you include a subject line in the email that references this thread.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-07-03T23:06:20+00:00

    Hello Rich,

    The hyperlinks were created inside the document itself via bookmarks 10 plus years ago. The bookmarks refer to Division, Sections, Tables, etc. inside the document. All URLs to websites outside the document work perfectly fine. The problem is the hyperlinks inside the document. Some of them work and direct to the Section, Division ,etc. and others are "unlinked" (if that is the right term to use). 

    All the bookmarks were maintained and if a redo the hyperlink it directs to the area. Problems why did it "unlinked" by upgrading the file. Also, how can I revert this error. Is alot of hyperlinks to redo.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-07-03T18:22:27+00:00

    What were these links? To Files, Web Pages ...?

    Can you show us the format? Were they fully qualified URL links? If not, maybe that is the problem.

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