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How do I remove a hyperlink from a signature?



How do I remove a hyperlink from a signature?


Outlook 2007, 2010 and 2013 all have built-in support for adding signatures that include links to websites such as Facebook and Twitter accounts. These are convenient and easy to use but can also be annoying because they automatically convert addresses into clickable links which you must then manually delete if you don't want them showing up on other people's mailboxes. Here is how to disable those links once and forever so you won't see any more unwanted advertisements while composing messages.

We'll start by explaining what exactly happens when you add this functionality to your account settings.  When you sign in to Microsoft Office using these accounts, the following information will appear at the bottom of each outgoing message (you may need to change "Default Account" depending upon which program you're using). This info includes where it came from - either a website URL or contact name/email. The next time anyone sends you one of these emails, just open it and look down toward the end of the text body. You should see something like this:

You've probably noticed that there's no space between the title bar and the actual text itself. That's important! If there were only two lines below here, we would be talking about the third line. In order to understand why the first two didn't count, let's take a closer look at the HTML code used to create this text box. It has some interesting properties. First off, notice that it uses both a style tag and an id attribute. Also note that it sets the background color of the entire field to #FFFFFF, not just the border around it. Those attributes allow us to customize our own experience within the application without having to mess with CSS files. They're very useful tools for creating custom themes. For now, however, we'll focus on the specific element created by changing the content of the class attribute. So far, we haven't seen anything particularly unique or special about it. There's nothing wrong with this particular piece of code per se, but it does serve to illustrate how this behavior occurs. When you try to apply the same rules elsewhere, things happen differently. Let's take a look at the stylesheet that contains everything else that makes up the overall appearance of your inbox. To find out what we're dealing with, right click anywhere inside the file and choose View Source from the dropdown menu. Scroll through until you come across the section labeled @STYLESHEET@." We'll go ahead and highlight the whole thing and copy it over to Notepad for easier reading.

So what did we learn today? Well, aside from the fact that someone named Chris wrote most of this stuff, we learned that whenever a user signs into their mailbox with a social media account like Facebook, LinkedIn etc., Outlook creates a new rule in their personalization group called Personal Signature Settings. Underneath it you'll see four different sections containing elements related to Social Media Links, Physical Address Displayed, Hyperlinks & Text Formatting, and Hyperlinks Only. Each section has its own tab and subtabs. One of these tabs is titled Email Rules and it contains several elements that could potentially affect our situation. Clicking on it takes us directly to another page of options. As mentioned earlier, we found three sections that seem relevant to the issue at hand. Now let's break down each of them individually so we know what we're fighting against.

Let's talk about Physical Addresses Displayed. Inside this section, we can set whether or not a physical street address appears alongside phone numbers in the header portion of incoming messages. Our goal is to turn this feature off. While it might sound strange, many users actually prefer receiving physical mailing addresses along with electronic ones. Having both types of correspondence available helps keep track of who sent what. Unfortunately, turning the option off doesn't work quite the way you'd expect. Instead of simply removing the checkmark, the button turns white instead. When you mouse over it, the cursor changes back to normal, indicating that whatever action was supposed to occur isn't going to. However, if you hit enter after clicking the button, it works fine. Once again, we're looking at a bit of weirdness going on behind the scenes. Let's move onto Hyperlinks & Text Formatting. By default, it seems like this section tries to make every hyperlinked word boldface. All we really care about is making the URLs italicized. Again, we can turn this function off by unchecking the appropriate boxes. But just like before, hitting Enter activates the linked words anyway. Finally, we arrive at the last section, Hyperlinks Only. Here we can control the font size and format of hyperlinks themselves. Changing the value of Font Style to Italic results in the desired effect. Next, we need to figure out how to prevent the system from applying this style to existing entries already present in our contacts list. Fortunately, there's a pretty simple solution. Right click on the icon representing your Default Contact and select Properties. From the screen that opens, locate the Customize Ribbon button located near the top of the left sidebar. Select Mail Merge from the Choose commands from dropdown menu. On the resulting window, scroll down until you see Main Tabs and select Contacts. Find the Edit Forms tab and double-click on Linked Name List Form to view its contents. Somewhere towards the middle of the form, you should see a radio button with the label "Do not insert". Change it to Yes and press OK. Your final step is to save your customization and restart Outlook. After logging back in, all future messages from friends and family members using Facebook, LinkedIn etc. should show your preferred version of the signature. If you ever decide you want to revert back to the original setup, you can always tweak your preferences from the same area described above. Just remember to save your changes after saving the profile.

If you still run into problems after trying these steps, please try contacting Microsoft Support via Live Chat. Their specialists are usually able to help resolve issues much faster than waiting for responses from forums. Thanks for stopping by! Please share your experiences in the comments section below. How long did it take you to solve your problem? What methods worked best? Do you have similar tips for disabling ads in Gmail? Have you tried tweaking your browser away from Internet Explorer yet? Share your insights with us!

If you're using Microsoft Office 2010, then it's likely that your emails are linked up through an online service like Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo Mail. If so, there may be times when you want to edit those links and add some extra information for clarity. For example, maybe your email is sending someone to a website where they need to sign in before accessing certain content. Or perhaps you've noticed that your email has been sent to multiple people at a company who all have different job titles, but you'd prefer everyone use one title instead of several. You can easily set these types of changes by editing the HyperLink property within your outlook 2007-2010 signatures.

There are two methods you'll find useful in changing this setting - manual removal and automated removal (also known as "conversion"). Manual removal involves removing the hyperlinks via the Properties menu item in Word after composing your message. Automated removal happens automatically because the system recognizes what kind of link it is and converts accordingly. In either case, once you make the desired edits, just save your new document. The next time you send out mail with your edited signature, Windows Live will recognize your updated settings and no longer convert any addresses into links. Here we show you how to manually get rid of unwanted hyperlinks in your signatures while also learning about converting them without needing to worry about losing formatting during the process.

How do I turn off underline in a link?

Manually deleting links requires disabling the underlining feature on both the sender and recipient ends. To disable the underlined text effect on the sender end, click Insert" Text Box/Image/Picture. This opens a window containing options for inserting various items such as shapes, pictures, clip art, etc., along with a dropdown box labeled Link Type. Select the second option which reads Address & Signature. Now simply select the area in the body of your outgoing message where you wish to insert the link. Once done, right-click anywhere inside the selected text and choose Format Shape.... Then uncheck Show Underline. Next go to View Options... and uncheck Display As Icon. Finally, check Delete After Sending. When finished, press OK.

To prevent recipients receiving the underline effect, follow similar steps except choose Image/Text Box/Picture rather than Address & Signature. Also, don't delete anything until you finish editing.

In order to completely stop any sort of linking from occurring, open Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Signature Tools and look for Disable Links. Check the box beside Remove Hyperlinks. Click Apply followed by OK. Note that if you ever decide to enable the links again, just repeat the above procedure.

When you first start working with signatures in Word, you probably did not notice the little pop-up that says Convert URLs to File Attachments. It appears every time you enter a URL in your signature. While it might seem harmless enough, it actually does cause problems.

The reason why lies in the way Windows Live handles incoming messages. Instead of delivering your email directly to the user, it sends it to a server and lets other users handle its delivery. That means anyone trying to view your email could potentially receive spam due to their role in processing the data. One solution would be to block all attachments from being processed in this manner, including HTML documents. However, doing so could result in lost functionality since many companies require attachments to work properly. Therefore, Microsoft created a method to allow us to customize the behavior of our signatures by allowing us to control whether or not links should be converted. By default, most settings are enabled. So whenever you type a URL in your signature, it gets converted to a file attachment unless you explicitly tell WL otherwise. Fortunately, there's only one setting worth messing around with, and it's located in the Customize tab.

Once you launch the properties screen, scroll down past all the tabs and expand Signatures. On the resulting panel, double-click on Edit Defaults... A small window will appear displaying the Change Default button. Clicking this brings up another window containing four fields. First, check Prevent Conversion of URLs to Files. Second, check Allow Converted URLs to Be Opened With My Browser. Third, check Do Not Open Converted URLs Without Prompt. Fourth, check Always Use Encrypted Media Extensions. Make sure to hit OK twice. These three last options are critical and must remain unchecked. Otherwise, everything else here won't matter.

Now back to the main properties panel. Scroll down until you see Add Additional Fields. Double-click on this field, enter New Field Name, and input Hyperlink. Choose Plain text and then paste in the following code: [Hyperlink]http://www.googlemaps.com[/hyperlink]. Hit OK and close the properties sheet. Your signature editor will now load a special page with a few boxes for adding additional signatures. Simply copy over the contents of your original signature and replace the existing code. When you're ready to test things out, head back to the main signature properties panel and try retyping your hyperlink. Sure enough, the conversion shouldn't happen anymore!

Note that even though this seems more complicated than the previous instructions, it really isn't. All it takes is making sure that each step follows exactly as described and not skipping any. And remember, if something doesn't work, come back here for help figuring out how to correct it.



You can take advantage of a built-in function called SmartTags to accomplish this task. Basically, Smart Tags allows you to create custom tags that contain commands. When executed, these tags perform specific actions based on the values contained therein. Since SmartTag functions can be used to execute commands for strings entered in signatures, it makes sense to use them to manipulate links.

First, let's learn how to change simple URLs to actual web pages. Go to Smart Tag Gallery. From the list of available commands, pick Look Up Web Page. Enter the name of the site you want to redirect to in the Value column. Keep clicking OK till all the results disappear. Right-click anywhere on the empty space and choose Create Command..... A large dialog box will appear asking you to specify what command you want to run. Just type [URL], meaning that whatever value you put in the Value box becomes part of the tag itself. Once completed, choose Run Selected Commands. A popup window will display letting you review the changes made. Copy the entire smarttag script and paste it into the appropriate place in your signature. Whenever you encounter a URL, type the assigned phrase ("Look Up") and pressing Return will immediately bring up the requested page.

Instead of creating a long string of words, Smart Tags can also operate on single characters. Pick Single Character Look Up. Input the character you want to search for and press OK. Another popup window will ask you to confirm the choice. Proceed through all the windows until the final confirmation message pops up. Paste this into your signature and you'll never forget that important phone number again.

While Smart Tags works great for relatively short phrases, it can become cumbersome if you plan on assigning lengthy scripts to keywords. Luckily, there exists a tool called AutoHotkey that enables scripting in excess of 500 lines. Using AutoHotkey, you can assign hotkeys to any sequence of keystrokes you desire. In addition to generating macros, AutoHotkey supports variables and loops which allow programmers to write complex programs without having to memorize hundreds of lines of codes.

AutoHotkey comes preinstalled on Windows 7 Professional Edition. To download AutoHotkey, visit www.autohotkey.net. Download the zip file and extract to C:\Program Files\AutoHotKey. Launch AHKStudio Lite, and open the Examples folder. Load the included examples directory onto the hard drive by selecting Application Data | Autotexts | Example Files | autotext_ahk.zip. Extract each.ahk file individually. Each extracted file contains an individual program named ahkfile.exe. Place all files together in a single location and launch AHK Studio Lite.

AHK Studio Lite displays a blank canvas upon opening. Navigate to File-"New Script Project and give it a name. Within the project manager, create a variable by going to Variables-"Create Variable. Set the variable name to myvar and the variable type to String. Repeat this process for a second variable named currenturl. Notice that unlike normal variables, AHK variables cannot hold numbers. Once complete, switch to the Compile tab. Here you can compile your code into executable form. Highlight and drag the whole thing across to the Actions tab. Rename the action to Execute Menu Item and fill in the details below. Leave the rest alone. Press Save and exit.

Next, return to the main workspace in AHK Studio Lite. Head to File-"Run Shortcut Window. Drag the shortcut icon of your newly compiled program into the Target box. Fill in the Details pane with the same parameters listed above. Finally, press OK to activate the shortcut.

The following article is outdated, but we're keeping it alive as an archive for those who may be searching for solutions now that Microsoft has retired Hotmail and its associated services (including MSN Mail). Signatures are no longer supported on Windows 10 Mobile devices because they use VBA scripts instead of HTML code.

Outlook users can add signatures to their outgoing messages using either the Insert Signature tool found at File " Options " Trust Center " Safe Email Filtering, which allows you to select from several types of signatures including one where only certain contacts have access to specific information. Or if you want more control over what goes into your signature, then right-click on any message and choose Properties " Customize Ribbon " New Group.... This will open up the new group menu with all available tools that allow customization of your ribbon's tabs. From here, click Personal Information & Contact Info and scroll down until you see Linked Accounts. Click this tab, check Hyperlinks, and uncheck Linked Account Locations so that none appear within your custom signature.

When you receive emails containing links to web sites, maps locations, etc., the recipient cannot copy and paste them into another program without first clicking on the embedded URL. To prevent this, you must disable these URLs by removing the hyperlinks. There are two ways to accomplish this task -- you can manually edit each line or just delete everything inside brackets [ ] surrounding the linked text. The second option is easier since there are usually many lines of codes between pairs of square bracket symbols. Here's how to do both.

If you'd like to completely eliminate the hyperlinked addresses appearing in your signature, follow the steps below:

Select all of the text within the opening pair of square brackets [] in your email signature. You'll notice that the texts themselves aren't highlighted, meaning that once selected, these words won't show up again when you hit Enter.

Once you've got all of the content selected, highlight all instances of "[http://www." followed by a space character. In most cases, this should automatically bring up your Find/Search box. If not, type in "^[http://" and press Ctrl+F. Once the search results window opens, look for the word "URL," and drag it onto the end of the phrase.

Click OK, and your selection process should complete. Now that you've removed the entire block of text, go ahead and repeat step 2 above while replacing "http://www." with ".com," ".edu," or whatever other domain name you might need to filter out. For example, if you own multiple businesses, replace ".org" with ".company1.," ".company2.," or ".company3."

Finally, remove every instance of ".net" or ".info" from your replacement phrases.

Note: You could also simply cut and paste the text outside of the square brackets and create a hyperlink from it yourself. However, you would lose the ability to customize the text that appears after that hyperlink. Also, some people simply don't know about cutting and pasting, and others prefer to leave things intact. As such, filtering through hundreds of lines of characters makes sense.

For anyone who prefers to remove individual elements rather than selecting everything and deleting it altogether, the removal method is pretty simple too. Just find the desired element(s) in question and delete them. Since this particular subject doesn't lend itself well to screenshots, take a peek at our guide showing you how to insert images into Outlook signatures.

To get started, select the portion that needs to disappear and make sure it includes a hyperlink. Then go to Edit " Cut Text Style. A dialogue box pops up asking whether you want to Delete Selected Items, Copy All Of Them Into Another Location, or Create Separate Styles For Each Item. Select Create New Style And pick whichever choice works best for you.

Now, head back to your original document and locate the next item you'd like to hide. Make note of the style number that was assigned to the previous items, and apply the same style to your new entry. Repeat this action throughout your list.

It's important to realize that this removes the text entirely, whereas the earlier approach merely changes the format of existing entries. Thus, if you ever want to retrieve something later, you'll likely have to try contacting whoever sent you the email to ask nicely.



Here's a quick way around this annoying issue. Instead of deleting the hyperlink and leaving the underlined portions behind, try typing in bold letters "Link Removed." When you send this modified version off to your recipients, they'll think nothing of it since the actual link isn't active anymore.

This trick does require that you modify the hypertext before sending it off, however. So before you even begin editing anything, ensure you have saved the file somewhere else. Next time, simply open your original email and perform the aforementioned modifications. Finally, save the edited version of your email and attach it to a separate message. Send it away, and your recipients' eyes shouldn't detect anything odd going on.

Unfortunately, this solution comes with limitations. It requires that you already possess the proper formatting, so if you were hoping to convert someone’s physical mailing address into a clickable map location, forget about it — unless you plan on printing out your altered versions and mail them directly to the intended recipients!

By default, whenever you include a hyperlink in a signature, Outlook displays the blue background color underneath it. Although there are many colors offered by Microsoft Word, you can easily change this to match your company logo or branding scheme. Simply follow the instructions below.

First, open the file and navigate to View " Font Color. Choose a font color that matches the theme of your business. We recommend doing this via the dropdown menu located beneath the field labeled Contents.

Next, head to Home " Font and Format " Font Name. Change this value to whatever suits your brand best. Afterward, adjust the Size setting to reflect your preference. Generally speaking, smaller fonts tend to emphasize key points, while larger ones work better for overall readability. Lastly, toggle Bold On, Italics Off, Underlining Off, Strikethrough Off, and Subscript On. These settings help keep your paragraphs clear and readable.

In addition to changing the color, size, and font properties, you can also alter the appearance of your hyperlinks. Head back to View " Font Color and choose your preferred hues. You can further customize the behavior of links by adjusting Web Page Color Mode, Auto Popup Blocker Settings, and Disable Links. Unfortunately, disabling hyperlinks seems to permanently remove the functionality.

Microsoft Office provides plenty of options for creating professional looking signatures, and once you master these techniques, you should feel confident enough to tackle more advanced projects.


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