When you click on a hyperlink in Excel, the target for the link will be opened with the most appropriate program for it. For example, if you click on a link to a Word document, the document will open in Microsoft Word. If you click on a link to an Access database, the database will open with Microsoft Access. If you click on a link to a webpage, the page will open with the Internet Explorer browser.

The following worksheet contains two hyperlinks.

The first link is to a Word document, and the second is to another spread sheet. The two linked documents as well as the current workbook are all in the same file folder, though this does not have to be the case.

If we click the first link, the target document will open in Microsoft Word.

You can see that Link1 is now purple, meaning that it has been followed. The web toolbar has appeared in the upper part of the screen, and the linked document has opened in Microsoft Word.

If you click the left pointing arrow button (back button) on the web toolbar, the Word document will be minimized, and you will see the original worksheet.

If you click the right pointing arrow (forward button) on the web toolbar, the Word document that you just visited will be displayed again.

If we click on Link2, another Worksheet will open in Excel.

If you click the back button on the Web toolbar, this worksheet will be minimized, and the original will be displayed. You will notice that this worksheet contains a third hyperlink called Link 3. This links to the same Word document as the first link in the first worksheet. If you click on it, the same Word document will appear.

If you click the back arrow on the web toolbar, the word document will be minimized and the worksheet with Link 3 will be displayed. The toolbar arrows will be highlighted in green if there is a hyperlink connection to another file in the direction of the arrow (backwards or forwards).

Notice that you can now use both direction arrows on the web toolbar. The back button  will take you to the original worksheet. The forward button will take you to the Word document that is the target of Link 3 in the current worksheet.