Link Repair doesn’t appear to modify specific links

Product

Link Repair v3.x.x.x

Summary

Microsoft Office applications will defer to using relative links whenever possible. Relative links do not contain all the information of the destination unlike absolute links.

Example of absolute link: \\servername\myshare\folder\sub-folder\excel-file.xlsx

Example of relative link: ..\sub-folder\excel-file.xlsx

When hovering over a link for example in Excel it is misleading. The reason for this is Excel dynamically builds the link as it is hovered over to appear to show you an absolute link. When the link is edited in Excel you can see it is a relative link and doesn’t contain server name and part of the folder structure.

As a result Link Repair can log (it reports ‘Excel relative link found’) if the Log all hyperlinks that are found setting is selected but it does not modify relative links. Important: relative links should not need to be repaired as long as the document structure is kept the same in the new location.

Additional Notes

Important: this article may include instructions that require changes to system settings, such as the registry, incorrect modification of which can render the device unusable. Always ensure you have a backup and follow the instructions carefully. If you are in any doubt we recommend you do not make any changes. Use of the information on this page is subject to our Terms of Use.