Extracting Hyperlink from a Cell in Excel Using a Formula

In Excel, if you wish to extract hyperlinks from a cell containing a hyperlink without utilizing VBA, you can achieve this through a combination of functions. Below is the method to extract the hyperlink address using the HYPERLINK function along with CELL, MID, and FIND functions.

Formula Overview

To extract the URL from a hyperlink in a cell, use the following formula:

=IFERROR(MID(CELL("address", A1), FIND("//", CELL("address", A1)), LEN(CELL("address", A1)) - FIND("//", CELL("address", A1)) + 1), "")

Explanation of the Formula

• CELL("address", A1): This function retrieves the address of the cell A1. If A1 has a hyperlink, it returns the entire hyperlink as a string.

• FIND("//", CELL("address", A1)): This function locates the position where the URL begins. The assumption is that the URL starts with 'http://' or 'https://', which contains "//".

• MID(): The MID function extracts a substring from the URL starting from the position calculated above through FIND.

• LEN(): This function determines the total length of the string returned by CELL("address", A1).

• IFERROR(): This function is used to handle any errors. If there is no hyperlink, it returns an empty string instead of an error message.

Practical Example

Scenario

Assume you have the hyperlink https://www.example.com in cell A1.

Application of the Formula

1. Input:

   • A1: https://www.example.com (hyperlink)

2. Formula Input:

   • In cell B1, you would enter:

   =IFERROR(MID(CELL("address", A1), FIND("//", CELL("address", A1)), LEN(CELL("address", A1)) - FIND("//", CELL("address", A1)) + 1), "")

3. Output:

   • The formula in B1 will yield https://www.example.com as output.

Conclusion

This method effectively extracts hyperlinks from a specified cell in Excel without requiring VBA. It is important to ensure that the cell in question indeed contains a hyperlink, as the formula relies on that condition. This approach is particularly useful for users who are looking for a simple, formula-based solution in Excel.

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