Link file to basic shape and change colour

Question

Link file to basic shape and change colour

Hannes 20

Good morning. I want to insert a basic shape in a cell in excel. Once a file is linked to the shape, the basic shape must change colour from red to green. Please assist with the VBA to do the colour change once the file is linked.

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Answer 1

Liora 165 Independent Advisor

Dear Hannes,

I hope you’re having a good day.

Based on my testing, a Shape in Excel retains its existing fill colour after a hyperlink is manually assigned. In other words, adding a hyperlink to a Shape does not automatically change the Shape formatting. Excel exposes the Shape's Hyperlink object through VBA, but there is no built-in VBA event that fires specifically when a hyperlink is added to a Shape.

If your goal is to use the Shape colour as a status indicator (for example, Red = no file linked, Green = file linked), one approach is to run a VBA procedure that checks whether the Shape contains a hyperlink and then updates its colour accordingly. The Shape.Hyperlink property can be used for this purpose.

Example:

Sub UpdateShapeColor()
Dim shp As Shape
Set shp = ActiveSheet.Shapes("
On Error Resume Next
If shp.Hyperlink.Address <> "" Then
shp.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(0, 176, 80) ' Green
Else
shp.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0) ' Red
End If
On Error GoTo 0
End Sub

I hope this information helps point you in the right direction. If you run into any issues while trying the steps, or if something still doesn’t feel quite right, please don’t hesitate to reach out again. I’ll do my best to support you however I can.

Looking forward to hearing back from you with any updates or additional details.

Warm regards,

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Hannes 20 Reputation points

2026-08-03T10:28:11.1466667+00:00

Dear Liora

Thank you for asking. My day would be wonderful if I can solve this issue.

I keep getting an error in line 3 - Set shp = ActiveSheet.Shapes(".

Best regards, Hannes
Liora 165 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-03T12:41:30.5566667+00:00
Dear Hannes,

Thank you for your feedback and for taking the time to test the macro.

The error you encountered on the line: Set shp = ActiveSheet.Shapes("

is most likely because the Shape name was accidentally omitted from my previous reply. My apologies for that oversight.

The code requires the exact name of the Shape that exists on your worksheet. For example:

Set shp = ActiveSheet.Shapes("Rectangle 1")

or

Set shp = ActiveSheet.Shapes("Rectangle 3")

Depending on the actual name of your Shape.

While reviewing your scenario, I also spent some time testing additional approaches that may be more practical if you plan to use multiple Shapes as status indicators rather than updating a single Shape at a time.

Instead of referencing one specific Shape, the following macro loops through all Shapes on the active worksheet and checks whether each Shape has an associated hyperlink. Shapes with hyperlinks are coloured Green, while Shapes without hyperlinks are coloured Red:

Sub UpdateAllShapes() Dim shp As Shape Dim h As Hyperlink Dim HasLink As Boolean For Each shp In ActiveSheet.Shapes HasLink = False For Each h In ActiveSheet.Hyperlinks On Error Resume Next If h.Shape.Name = shp.Name Then HasLink = True Exit For End If On Error GoTo 0 Next h If HasLink Then shp.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(0, 176, 80) Else shp.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0) End If Next shp End Sub

This approach has a few advantages:

No need to specify individual Shape names.

A single macro updates all Shapes on the worksheet.

If a hyperlink is removed from a Shape and the macro is run again, the Shape returns to Red.

If a hyperlink is added to a Shape and the macro is run again, the Shape changes to Green.

I hope this gives you a more flexible solution, especially if your workbook contains several Shapes that represent linked documents or file statuses.

Thank you again for your patience and for helping identify the issue in my earlier example. Please let me know how the updated macro works in your environment, and I'll be happy to assist further if needed.

Warm regards, Liora
Hannes 20 Reputation points

2026-08-04T06:00:33.33+00:00

Dear Liora

Thank you, this works perfect. I however just realised that the shape is not actually inside the cell, which means that I cannot filter on colour..... I will have to find another way to do this. Regards, Hannes.
Liora 165 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-04T15:39:54.7133333+00:00
Dear Hannes,

Thank you for the update. I'm pleased to hear that the macro is now working correctly.

You are absolutely right in your observation. Although a Shape can be positioned over a cell, it remains a floating worksheet object rather than actual cell content. Because of this, Excel's filtering and sorting features cannot use a Shape's fill colour as a filter criterion.

If filtering is an important requirement, you may want to consider using a dedicated Status column instead. For example, the worksheet could contain values such as:

Linked (displayed in Green using Conditional Formatting)

Not Linked (displayed in Red using Conditional Formatting)

This approach offers several advantages:

Fully compatible with Excel AutoFilter and Sort.

Easier to maintain as your workbook grows.

Works well with Excel Tables and reporting.

Still provides a clear visual indication of document status.

You could continue using the Shape as a clickable hyperlink if you find it convenient, while maintaining a separate Status column for filtering and reporting purposes.

I'm glad we were able to get the VBA portion working, even though the filtering requirement led to a different design consideration. Thank you for sharing your findings, as they may help others facing a similar scenario.

Kind regards,

Liora.

If my reply helped resolve the original VBA question, please consider selecting "Yes" and upvoting the answer. It helps others in the community find relevant solutions more easily. If you have any further questions, feel free to post again and I'll be happy to assist.