A couple of days ago I had the strangest issue in Microsoft Word. Without apparently having changed anything in the program’s configuration settings, all web links inserted on any document started to appear as something like { HYPERLINK } plus the URL, instead of the typical Word blue link text. This was very uncomfortable, not only because it looked really awkward in the middle of my text, but also because you couldn’t open the links with Ctrl+click or any other keyboard shortcut.
After doing some Google research, I finally came across the solution: open the Tools – Options menu, go to the View tab and uncheck the box “Field codes” (which I hadn’t checked, I promise!). Everything went back to normal and I recovered my standard Word blue links.
However, while searching Google for help, I found that many people want to actually get rid of this blue formatting because they find it annoying. If you’re among them, jot down this little trick: open the Tools – AutoCorrect menu and go to the Replace As You Type tab. Uncheck the “Internet paths with hyperlinks” and any link you write from that moment on will be perfectly integrated into the text with no colors or special formatting.
